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Cali is rarely ever restless, but right now she can't seem to stand still. The lack of soil beneath her feet, the inability to stay rooted if she so wanted, is terrifying. She wants to be able to relax, to feel at home here in her girlfriend's apartment, but she just can't seem to get a grip.
As always, Beck is doing her best to try and make her girlfriend comfortable. But honestly, she's a bit distracted with her own stress, worrying about her friends coming over to her apartment... It's nice for sure, a bit small and a little more cramped feeling on top thanks to all the decoration, but cozy.
There are little trinkets picked up over the years as gifts from friends or crafted by herself lining the shelves. Pictures of big-eyed animals in silly hats evoke a strange sort of nostalgia. There are a lot of paintings and prints that are in all honesty either kinda weird, have sapphic energy, or kinda weird and have sapphic energy.
Throw pillows and blankets on the couch and the loveseat across the room create a clash of bright pastel colors, mish-mashing with some of the current fall decor which is somewhere between kitschy harvest season vibes and outright halloweeny.
The place feels lived in despite Beck rarely spending time here. Maybe that comes across in the fact that Beck has spent years collecting reminders of her friends to decorate her home, so she can always feel close to them. Or maybe it's that this is the one place that feels wholly, unabashedly Beck. She's a little nervous to have everyone come over for the first time, especially Gloria and Inez who are new to the team, but it felt more right to have a game night here than at the stadium. Playing blaseball is more than a job for all of them, but there's still a different vibe to hanging out in the same place where you work.
Beck's in the tiny kitchenette making popcorn and pulling out some drinks and snacks she'd bought earlier in the week to set out on the table. She doesn't have much experience in hosting people, but she's determined to be the best host she can be. Cali, meanwhile, is getting up from the loveseat to start pacing again. Fern quickly hops down from her shoulder, having had a bit too much of this tonight.
As she paces, Cali does a quick whistle to grab Beck's attention, and then signs, "Why do we have to be here."
"I thought you said this would be a good idea to make Inez, Gloria, and Moses more welcome on the team." Beck keeps her tone even, not wanting to upset Cali further.
Cali speaks her reply, "The apartment."
Beck's heart sinks just a little. She'd been so excited to finally have Cali over to her place outside the stadium. "Do you really hate it here that much? Look, it's not too late to reschedule and do it a different night at the Garden.”
Beck walks over to Cali and reaches out her arms to hug her, waiting for Cali’s response. Cali stops pacing before nodding slightly, letting herself be embraced by the small vampire.
Head resting against Cali’s chest, Beck speaks softly, “I just want you to be happy here, but if this is too much, just let me know.”
Beck is quiet, waiting for a response, and seems content to continue hugging Cali as she waits. The only measure of time's passing is the popping of kernels. For the first time since leaving the Garden tonight, Cali feels some of the tension drain out of her body.
She's used to things being slow or quiet. She's used to routine. She's used to the Garden, the only home she's ever had. Being out in the city, even in her girlfriend's home, is something new to her. The first new thing she's ever faced, really. Caligula holds Beck tight. Her life can't just be blaseball and The Garden. She is a person, and she needs to live in the world. And this is the first step in the process. It's never going to be easier, she realizes, than now; in the offseason, with the woman she loves by her side.
Cali's petals brush against Beck's face, a calming gesture. She's okay with it.
Beck looks up at Cali's face and smiles brightly. She tiptoes up to kiss her very tall girlfriend, the flower girl's petals ruffling in pleasant surprise.
Just as they break apart their embrace, the doorbell rings.
"Oh shoot!" Beck hurries back into the kitchenette to take the tin-foil covered pan of popcorn off the stovetop. "Cali, can you let them in? I have to finish this up!"
As Beck begins ransacking the spice rack and dumps her haphazard seasoning picks into the bowl to disguise the taste of burnt popcorn, Cali opens the door.
The sudden shock of color from Margarito's Hawaiian shirt and the undercurrent of buzzing that accompanies Inez is a bit of a sensory assault, but Cali closes her eyes and takes a deep breath. She's among friends, and nothing is really different just because they're outside the Garden. She opens her eyes and signs a greeting to Margo and Inez.
"Sup, Cali," Margarito says as xe and Inez walk into the apartment. Cali has spent enough time around the bees in the Garden to translate Inez's buzzing as a similarly relaxed greeting.
Margarito calls to Beck as well, "Hey there, cap. Hope it's okay I came along. Inez asked me if I wanted to join and I figured you'd be okay with it."
"Margo! Of course it's okay! If my apartment could fit the whole team I would have invited everyone!" Cali knows that Beck isn't kidding.
As Margo saunters over to the kitchenette to talk to Beck a bit more, Cali decides to make conversation with Inez. She's unsure how many of the bees in the garden she was familiar with became Inez after Morrow's incineration, or if that even matters, but she still can't help but feel some sort of bond with them.
Inez is wearing their plastic raincoat over a sickly green tree pattern shirt - clearly borrowed from Margarito - and some jeans. At first, they were simply a swarm gathered from the Garden, given new singular consciousness and bound by rage, but over the past few days of the offseason, they've had some more time to develop. They've built a hive in a rudimentary humanoid shape to fill the clothes they wear. It's a little uncanny without expression or any subtle animation, but gives more of a target for socialization than a loose swarm of bees under a coat and blaseball uniform.
Cali isn't entirely sure how Inez prefers to communicate yet, having mostly intuited feelings from their buzzing up till now rather than engaging in a devoted conversation. She decides to approach from the angle she is most comfortable with: non-verbal communication.
The flower girl shakes her petals in the direction of Margarito and Beck chatting in the kitchenette, then tilts her head, examining Inez for an answer to the implied question.
The tempo of Inez' buzzing quickens. It isn't quite panicked, but more like Cali's question threw the swarm for a loop. The pattern is syncopated, off-beat. They haven't spoken any sort of answer to the tall lotus plant standing across from them, but Cali is quick on the uptake. They're flustered.
Across the room, Beck and Margarito are having a more direct conversation on the same topic.
"So, you've been talking to Inez?" Beck asks as she hops up to sit on the small counter space, putting herself on a more equal level with Margarito.
"Yeah well, they've never been outside the Garden and, I figure I know my way around Boston pretty well, so," xe shrug. "We've been spending some time together, yeah. I've shown them around the city, we've been to Margaritoville a few times. Guess they kinda got used to having me as a guide." Margo's blush is just barely detectable as xe scratches the back of xir head.
Beck is a little jealous that despite Inez existing for only a little over a week at this point, Margarito has been more successful showing them around the city than she has been with Cali. She tries to push the feeling aside, and focus on the fact that she really is happy for her friend.
"I don't think I've seen Inez talk to anyone else on the team really. Seems like you and they have something special going on," Beck teases.
Margo deflects expertly. "I wouldn't say they talk to me either. They kinda buzz and you can figure out how they're feeling from the tone, y'know?"
Beck's fangs glint as she grins, "Well they seem to buzz at you more than anyone else."
Margarito decides the best tactic to avoid the captain's teasing is to just play it off cool. "Well, what can I say, Cap? I'm just a friendly guy."
Beck snickers at Margo trying to deliver a cool line while xir face is flushed red. She decides to lay off the teasing. "I'm really happy for you. This splort takes a lot of people away from us, but it can also bring some pretty important people into our lives, too."
Margarito notices Beck staring past xem to the couch where Caligula and Inez are sitting now. The vampire's gaze follows Caligula's petals as they ruffle and flay in a natural pattern responding to Inez's buzzing.
Xe'd never say this to her directly, but Margarito thinks that the captain and her girlfriend are pretty darn adorable together. And xe's grateful to Caligula for getting the cap to take a bit of a break sometimes. Both for the captain's benefit, and the fact that Margarito appreciates having some more free time not dedicated to Beck's intense training schedule.
A banging on the door that shakes the whole apartment interrupts the lapse into comfortable silence. Beck can take a guess as to who has arrived. Sure enough, as she opens the door she finds the massive concrete construct Moses Mason standing in the hallway outside her apartment. They have to duck their head and even still barely are able to squeeze through the door frame as Beck welcomes him in.
She hasn’t talked much to Moses, too busy with organizing all the memorials and welcome parties, and too tired to really engage socially at those events from organizing them on top of her coaching duties. They’d help get everyone else on the team get to know the newcomers better but Beck. Not wanting to let that disconnect linger was her secondary motivation in inviting everyone over to her place tonight.
“Hey Roses! Welcome!” She worries she’s laying it on a little too thick, using the nickname that the rest of the team has come up with for Moses since flowers have started growing in the cracks of their concrete since coming to Boston.
Luckily, Moses smiles, and waves in response. Their movements are slow and deliberate, and when they speak their voice comes out low and gravelly, with enough power that Beck can feel the vibrations through her whole body. “Hi Beck. Thanks for inviting me over.”
He has to hunch over a little to stop his head from banging into the ceiling. In fact, moving very much at all in Beck’s apartment seems like a risk. Beck visibly winces once Moses walks past her. She should have put a little more thought into this.
Moses isn’t too put off by it, though. Mostly, she’s just happy to be here. They’ve spent the past few days of the offseason visiting with all of their siblings who are still in town, either working at The Garden or not. As much as being in Los Angeles had been such a foundational part of their life, working in that town had already been a little overwhelming before it split into the infinite. They were enjoying the slower pace up here in New England.
“I’ll just sit here,” Moses says, carefully lowering their massive body onto the floor between the couch and loveseat.
Beck puts on her best good host voice. “No, you can take the loveseat if you want! Really you’re my guest and-”
Moses cuts her off. “I really don’t wanna break your furniture is all. There’s not a lot of stuff that can really support my weight so I’m used to it.” They shake their head and chuckle. “Even at the height of MLB:PI you would not believe the number of talk shows or press circuit interviews that just weren’t prepared for that. Look up my name on youtube sometime, it’s really funny how I’m always just kinda looking down on them.”
Caligula signs a question to Moses, now feeling a lot more comfortable having decided to just stick to the end of the couch. “You were an actor?”
Moses’ laugh is a low rumble that seems to fill up everyone in the room. “Guess you haven’t been around long enough to watch my show, huh? Yeah, I was ace investigator and first baseman Ty Robinson on MLB:PI. Every episode there’d be some kind of crime or mystery surrounding a game, and Ty would work with the other members of the LA Gridlock to figure it out.” She pauses, considering. “We actually managed to fit a lot of different kinds of blaseball related crime into eight seasons.”
“Oh yeah, I used to love that show,” Margarito says. “ What happened to it, anyway? Kinda seemed like after a while they’d only ever play reruns.”
“I think there was some sort of fight between the networks? I didn’t really pay attention to that stuff, I was happy so long as there was more show to work on but after a while, there just wasn’t.” They shrug. “I never found anything steady after that and, I’d really liked being on the blaseball field so eventually I just changed tracks.”
Margarito nods and munches on some of the popcorn. Xe immediately starts coughing. “Wow cap, that’s uh… something else.”
If Beck’s blood were capable of flowing, her face would flush with shame. “Sorry, I guess I kinda over seasoned it.”
Margo knows the captain can be kinda sensitive, so xe tries to play it. “Nah nah it’s fine, I just wasn’t expecting it to be so…. Flavorful, y’know?” It doesn’t really work.
As Beck insists on trying again with the popcorn, despite the fact that everyone is perfectly happy snacking on the variety of chips she’d bought in preparation for the game night, the room fills with the low happy chatter of the vampire’s guests. Moses and Margarito reminisce over the best episodes of MLB:PI, with Moses telling stories of on-set shenanigans. Cali goes back to talking to Inez, having a more private conversation conveyed between sign-language and patterns of buzzing. While Inez certainly seems to be a singular consciousness now, they also have access to the memories of all the bees they are made up of. To Cali, this makes the swarm feel more like an old friend than a stranger, especially given Inez’s similar skill of ascertaining the Garden’s shifts in space-time.
The popcorn is ready by the time Gloria arrives, unburnt and appropriately seasoned. Gloria is the one who feels the least like a stranger to Beck, given xyr status as the team’s dugout plant. To Cali, Gloria is an old friend. She was able to talk to xem well before xe had hands or a mouth capable of speech.
After a round of welcomes, Beck goes into her bedroom to grab the game off her bookshelf. While she’s gone, Gloria signs to Cali, “I’m going to crush you in this game, Lotus.”
Cali’s not usually very competitive, but she appreciates the rivalry Gloria has been attempting to establish. “You may try.”
Beck returns after a moment and sets the game box for Root on the table set up between the couch and loveseat. All of her earlier nerves have been washed over with a glee that is clearly apparent in her fanged grin. It’s been a while since she’s been able to indulge this particular hobby.
Beck starts explaining the game to the group. “So, Root is an asymmetrical faction-based game! Everyone plays a different faction who have their own goals and actions, and I can help walk you through them, but the important thing to keep in mind is to play towards your faction’s endpoint.”
Margarito interrupts. “This seems kinda complicated, Cap. Plus, I’m not sure if Inez can really move pieces around?”
Beck’s enthusiasm hits a speed bump quicker than she’d expected. “Oh! Well, um, I’ve played all the factions a few times so, I can give you all some tips on how to pick them up. Really it’s mostly about just picking a playstyle that appeals to you. And, I can move Inez’s pieces for them!”
Inez’s buzzing escalates into a frustrated crescendo. The swarm crawls through the honeycomb of their hive’s face and moves to grab the lid off the box, demonstrating their ability to move things. They return to the hive and begin buzzing a short message to Margo.
“Okay, okay, geez. Sorry bud, just trying to be considerate.” Xe chuckles and shakes xir head.
Gloria signs a question to Beck. “Is this like a roleplaying game? Matheo played Dungeons and Dragons with Jake, Owen, and Zeb sometimes. I remember that from when I was potted. It seemed like fun.”
Beck is starting to get a little flustered. “Um, kind of? Well, I mean, not really. I guess you could roleplay, but there aren’t really specific characters and dice aren’t involved as much. I mean, I guess there are some roleplaying games that don’t use dice or have specific characters, but this is more of a boardgame than a roleplaying game and-”
Cali stops Beck with a hand on her shoulder. Beck smiles softly. She was beginning to ramble.
“Should we play?” Caligula is speaking up mostly to give Beck an out. She knows she’ll be able to explain the rules better once they get started.
Margo picks up on it as well. “Yeah, I’m sure we’ll all pick it up quick. Especially with you leading us, cap.”
Beck knows what they’re doing, but she doesn’t mind. “So, there are eight factions.”
She gestures to the green game board, with images of sly foxes hiding in the shadows and rabbits crafting weapons. “The Woodland Alliance are rebels who want to free their homes. Playing them means setting up bases, gaining sympathy, and not having a lot of soldiers. I like playing as them a lot but ah… I don’t usually win when I do.”
Next, to a blue game board with eagles, vultures, owls, and other birds of prey. “The Eyrie Dynasty are a council of birds. They have to follow the rules built from their cards, or else the leadership changes.”
“They look kinda mean,” Margo comments.
“I think that’s the point? Um, a lot of the factions are bad guys,” Beck replies before moving on.
There’s a clear fondness in Beck’s voice as she talks about the cats. “The Marquise de Cat are a kingdom of cats who want to build an empire over the forest. They’re bad guys, too, I guess, but… I think their art is really cute. Um, if you play them you have to build industry and trade resources.”
Beck takes out a variety of cards depicting raccoons, tanuki, possums, and other animals that don’t quite fit in anywhere else. “The Vagabond is a lone adventurer who trades items, explores ruins, and takes on quests. Gloria, I guess this one would be the closest to an rpg?”
Gloria starts looking over the various cards, sometimes showing them to Inez who responds with happy buzzing. The two of them non-verbally gush over how cute the characters are as Beck moves on.
The vampire chuckles as she looks at the silly little yellow pieces for the lizards. “These guys are really cute, too, but they’re also kind of complicated. The Lizard Cult takes discarded cards as resources, and can turn other units into their cultists.”
The next board depicts mostly otters, but also beavers and minks and other river-dwelling creatures. “The Riverfolk Company are merchants who try and gain power by selling cards and units to the other factions. I… haven’t actually ever won as them? So, I’m not really sure what the strategy is.”
The brown game board for the moles is significantly more complicated than the others. “These cute lil guys are the Underground Duchy! They gain more actions with the more nobles they recruit. They can also move through tunnels which is,” she fumes for a moment,” reeeeaaally frustrating sometimes.”
The final board has some particularly charming art of chaotic little crows carrying around bombs. “And the Corvid Conspiracy! They can set up plots all around the forest. Anyone can try and call them on the plot to stop it, but if they call wrong, then the Corvids get to steal from them. It’s, kind of like a hidden role game, I guess? I don’t know if any of you have played Mafia or Werewolf but, it’s kind of like that?”
Beck claps her hands together at the end of her explanation, “So, who wants to pick first!” When there isn’t a response for a few moments she starts to worry her explanation might have been a little much.
Margarito talks as xe plays around with some of the game pieces. “Sounds like you’ve played this game a whole lot, cap. I never really see you leave The Garden, though, and I know I’ve never heard of anyone else on the team playing with you.” Xe hasn’t directly asked a question, but the sense of one is evident.
“Yeah, I haven’t actually had a lot of time for board games since I took over as coach. Or, even really since I’ve been playing blaseball. I sort of got into this stuff back in college?”
Moses’ curiosity prompts him to ask, “What did you study?”
“Oh, a lot of different stuff. I’ve… actually been to college a few times since I became a vampire.” Beck’s hit a topic she’d rather not talk about so she moves on quickly. “But um, the first time I was in college, before that, I was studying anthropology. And, my study group also sort of became a game group.” There’s a hint of embarrassment in Beck’s voice as she says the next bit. “We… played a lot more games than reading textbooks.”
Margarito chuckles. “Gotta be honest, cap, it’s hard to picture you slacking off. That’s more my thing.”
“Well, I wasn’t exactly slacking off! College was just, there was a lot more time to find room to do fun stuff.” Beck sighs.
Caligula reaches for the woodland alliance board, silently making her choice of faction. She wants this to go well for Beck. It’ll be good for her. And besides, the woodland alliance is an easy pick. The theme of unity among disparate groups speaks to Cali.
Inez also makes a quick and mostly silent choice, a number of bees breaking away to drag the lizard cult board in front of their seat at the couch.
Margarito can see that they’re all making their choices, and xe goes for the Riverfolk Company. “Owning a bar is kinda like being a merchant,” xe explains.
Gloria takes Beck’s advice and goes for the vagabond board, playing as the owl adventurer.
Moses takes the longest to decide, looking at and reading over all of the remaining boards, before eventually going for the underground duchy. Beck visibly winches but says nothing. Evidently there are wounds from the past that have yet to heal.
“I’ll go with the simplest faction and take my turn first so I can demonstrate how to play,” Beck says as she takes the marquise de cat board.
Once the map board is set, Beck goes about explaining the rules as she takes her first turn, showing off the different card suits, how items work, the actions that can be taken at different phases of a turn. She’s in full teacher mode, but it feels different than during practice. Cali has always been good at reading Beck, but it doesn’t take anything special to see that she really wants them all to enjoy playing this game.
The first set of turns go by fairly quickly, mostly as everyone sets up and does the things made obvious for their factions. Gloria explores the ruins in the center of the map, Cali sets up the first rebel base, Moses starts recruiting moles into the tunnels. It becomes clear fairly quickly that Inez only chose the lizard cultists because they thought the pieces looked the cutest, and it takes Margarito translating some questions for Beck before Inez really gets a handle on how to play the cultists.
By the time it loops around to the second set of turns, Cali has an idea.
“Um, Cali, why did you move your mouse to the cat’s castle?” Beck questions.
Cali speaks her reply. “Friends.”
Beck’s smile is hesitant. “Well, I guess we could ally, though only the vagabond really has rules for that.”
As Beck is still talking, mostly to herself now, Cali reaches for the board and moves the mouse and one of the cat pieces closer together. Once Beck assures she’ll leave the mouse alone, Cali finishes out the rest of her turn, gathering sympathy for the alliance in the central clearings.
However, Gloria’s competitive spirit soon threatens the friendly rebels. At the start of xyr turn xe signs to Beck, “How do I fight?”
Beck’s answer is reluctant. “Well, you just roll the dice when you’re in the same clearing as your target but… The vagabond isn’t really meant to fight the other factions? I guess maybe I gave the wrong idea about combat, sorry… It’s more abstract than in other games?”
Gloria pushes forward regardless. “I want to fight Cali.”
“What?” Beck is caught off guard. “Why cali?”
Gloria shrugs. “I’m in the same clearing as her.”
Beck attempts to mediate. “I mean, Gloria, it doesn’t really help you to do this. In fact, you’ll almost certainly just lose all your items which means you won’t be able to do any quests.”
Gloria just shrugs again and rolls the dice. Thankfully, xe’s not aware that Cali’s rebels have a defense bonus, giving them the advantage in the fight. Still, it’s not ideal for her. She narrows her many eyes at Gloria, who’s grinning despite the clear failure.
While Moses and Inez continue to gather their units in the next few rounds, Margarito seems to be struggling with the Riverfolk.
“C’mon guys, my prices are as low as they go. What else am I supposed to do?”
Cali gestures towards the general lack of resources available to the woodland alliance given Gloria’s continued attacks.
Moses shrugs apologetically, “I already have more moles than I really know what to do with.”
Inez starts buzzing in a pattern that only Cali and Margo seem to understand. On their next turn, they do pay some cards to use Margarito’s troops. It’s not enough to give Margarito very many points, and it really doesn’t help Inez who’s trailing far behind Beck and Moses, but they both seem happy about it.
Beck finds herself cuddling against Cali in between turns. The two of them start to spend far more time whispering to each other about the cat and the mouse in Beck’s castle. While Moses makes bold plays with her army of moles and Gloria delights in running around the map causing chaos, the two of them are engaged in signing back and forth the story of the feline princess falling for the rebel heroine.
When Inez sets up a cultist garden in the next clearing, Cali signs to Beck that the princess and the heroine should move to the garden. “Secret garden,” she whispers.
Beck laughs. It’s not really that kind of garden, but seeing Cali get so invested in this story is adorable. On their next turns they move the pieces into the garden. By this time, everyone else has picked up on Cali and Beck giggling to each other about their little characters, so Margarito signals to Inez that they should leave the pieces alone.
Gloria continues to ignore any way of earning points in favor of attacking Cali’s units, and eventually moves to the cultist garden to confront the heroine. However, before Gloria can attack, Beck springs into action.
“Here, take this ambush card,” she says to Cali.
Gloria’s jaws clamp down in anger. “That’s cheating!”
Margo chuckles. “Eh, leave ‘em be Bugsnax. Not like you’re gonna win anyway.”
Beck clenches her fist as she declares, “The cat princess will defend the rebel leader from your chaotic assaults!”
Gloria’s fingers are a whirlwind as she signs, “The rebels are trying to overthrow the cats!”
Cali’s petals blush with pink as she says, “They’re in love.”
Margarito puts a hand on Gloria’s shoulder as xe continues seething. “C’mon Bugsnax. It’s just a game. We’re meant to be having fun here, and those two clearly are.”
“They’re not trying to win!” xe signs.
Margo shrugs. “You don’t gotta win to have fun.”
As Moses continues to make his moves, earning points by taking out the cultist gardens that Inez has set up around the map, Beck is giggling as she leans against Cali’s shoulder, the two of them ever more invested in their roleplay. She is not making plans on how to rebuff the mole menace.
“Hey, cap, it’s your turn.” Margarito calls to her after a stretch of silence proceeding the end of Moses’ turn.
“Oh!” She sits up and scans her eyes over the board, no clear strategy in her mind. Her and Moses are the only two anywhere near the end of the score tracker, and if she’s going to win the game, she needs a plan.
But, in the end, she decides to just play it safe, leaning against Cali’s shoulder again once her turn is done. Beck knows she could have won, but sometimes it’s better to just have fun. The victor is essentially declared in that moment.
Not that anyone really pays much head to Moses’ victory. As Moses celebrates their victory Margarito rolls xir eyes. “Alright, bud, calm down. Was probably just beginner’s luck.”
Moses pouts. “I think I did a really good job!”
Beck smiles. “You did do good, Moses! Especially for your first time playing.” Internally she knows playing as the Underground Duchy gave them a pretty big advantage.
Inez buzzes happily to themself, content with how they played. They buzz a quick pattern to Margarito and xe translates, “Hey Inez wants to know when we can play this again.”
Beck is hesitant she responds. “Um, actually, I was gonna suggest we could make game nights a thing? It’s been way too long since I’ve had a group to play with and there's a lot of other games I have so…” She trails off.
Everyone is more than happy with that. Inez starts buzzing happily and Cali’s petals ruffle. Gloria signs to Cali, “I’ll crush you next time, Lotus.” She ignores xem.
Moses sets up a group chat on their phone and snaps a picture of the mole piece to set as the icon. “Since I won,” he says with a smile.
Everyone hangs around for a little longer, just chatting and enjoying each other's company. As the sun sets, signified by the little solar powered flower figurines on Beck’s windowsill going still, Moses decides to leave first. Gloria follows soon after, promising to win at the next game night.
Inez and Margarito hang around a bit more, with Cali and Inez still talking about the Garden and various patterns they’ve both noticed in the dimensional rifts. After a while, Margo notices some of Inez’s bees falling asleep and dropping off from the rest of the swarm. Xe nudges them and nods towards the door, asking if they want to go home yet. Inez’s bees move in a lazy nod, and most of the swarm retreats into the hive.
“See ya later, cap,” Margarito says as xe walks out the door with Inez, waving to Beck and Cali who are still sitting on the loveseat.
With everyone else gone, Beck is happy to curl up on the loveseat next to her girlfriend, Cali’s petals relaxing and dropping until they rest on Beck’s head.
Beck is surprised at just how normal everything was… When you play blaseball, you get used to the bizarre and extreme. She’s seen friends die or go missing in screeches of feedback. To steal a small moment like this, just getting to know new friends over a game, it feels like something extraordinary in how ordinary it is.
Cali, meanwhile, is feeling something new. She loves Beck, and she loves her friends, and just like Beck promised spending time with them was fun. Even though the game was far too complex for her, Beck seemed to notice that and help her go at her own pace. It was… good. And now, being outside of the garden. Somehow, all of a sudden, it feels less scary.
In that moment, Caligula knows something to be true, but she finds herself wanting to hear the words. “Home?” She speaks softly to Beck.
Beck assumes that Cali is asking to go back to the Garden. There is a brief spark of nerves before she calms herself and says, “Actually, if you’re okay with it, I was wondering if you’d want to stay with me here tonight. It’s been so long since I’ve slept in my apartment instead of at the Garden and… I want you to be here, too.”
Beck lifts her head, looking now into Cali’s many eyes. “I want to share this place with you.”
Caligula Lotus blooms with happiness. “Home.”
This time, Beck understands. She laughs, and kisses her girlfriend. They are both at home here, with each other.