Oh crap. I recognized his competition, a bushy-haired middle-aged man in his trademark neon orange T-shirt. He was a popular streamer whom I’d played a number of times online, especially before he got big. And I knew that Conrad didn’t play as much online as me, wouldn’t know this guy’s weaknesses. But I did. Before I could overthink it, I headed over there. It was still between rounds, so chatter filled the space, but I had no time to spare.
“Hey.” His eyes went wide as he spotted me.
“Hey. Do you have a spare token? There’s this woman collecting signed ones for her injured son.” I did care about the volunteer’s quest for her son, but I also needed an excuse for Conrad to come closer.
“Sure.” Conrad got a spare one from his endless supply of frog soldier tokens, and I held out a pen, which as I’d hoped, brought him into whispering range.
“That’s Arresting Aaron, the big-time streamer.” I spoke fast but super low. “He’s good. But he plays decks with lower total scrolls than most. Get him screwed on scroll counts, and you’ll have a good chance. And he plays fast—easy to goad into attacking too soon.”
“Oh wow. That helps.” Conrad’s face stayed neutral, but I recognized his pleased tone. “Thanks, man. I owe you…something.”
“Later.” I took the signed token from him. “Good luck.”
Surprisingly, I meant it. Helping him felt good, and I found that curiously, I didn’t want to make the break to the elimination rounds if he didn’t as well. Maybe he was right and there was something to having a coalition or alliance, someone on my side. Heart lighter, I didn’t rush to find the British volunteer right away, instead hanging back with some others watching the streamed matches on giant monitors outside the tournament space.
I’d watched Conrad play hundreds of times before, but never with such a sense of… Well, ownership certainly was a reach, but there was a possessive sort of pride in me that had never been there before. That was my guy, making the deft moves, destroying Arresting Aaron’s scrolls, matching the fast pace easily, and jumping out to an early lead that led to a comfortable win. Funny thing was that maybe he hadn’t needed my advice. He’d handled each challenge with an ease I hadn’t noticed in him before, his natural confidence even more pronounced than usual.
My earlier worries about whether this was real, whether I got to see the real guy, receded under the force of so much pride. This was real. It had to be. I’d do anything to make it so.
Wandering away from the monitors, I found the British volunteer over by the tournament check-in station. She was bent over a stack of printouts.
“I brought you another token. From one of the other Gamer Grandpa guys.” I held out the card.
“Thank you, dear.” Accepting the card, she dropped her pen, and we both bent to retrieve it at the same time, which jostled the table and sent some of the pages raining to the floor.
“Oops. Sorry!” I scrambled to help her gather them up.
“Thanks. I need these for tomorrow. We’re working out the brackets now for the early elimination rounds.”
“Oh.” I couldn’t help glancing down, but I instantly regretted the impulse because what I saw there made every muscle in my body stiffen, panic gathering low in my gut. No. No. No.
Chapter Twenty-Nine
Conrad
I was riding a serious high after winning out over Arresting Aaron. Alden’s tips had enabled me to win easily, something I still wasn’t sure I liked. On the one hand, I wanted to stand on my own feet, win entirely due to my superior play. But on the other hand, a win was a win, and I’d met my goal of going undefeated in the qualifying rounds. Making the elimination rounds was a given, with the real wait being for the schedule and seeding. Seeding would be determined mainly by the strength of the opponents I’d beaten and other complex algorithms.
But right then, I wasn’t worried about math. No, my main concern was getting back to the hotel and thanking Alden properly for the tips. After a long day of competition, our brief interlude at lunch hadn’t been nearly enough time together, especially not since Payton had brought an awkward end to that. And who would have thought that I would come to crave Alden’s company? Need him even? The me of just a week ago was laughing hysterically at this turn of events.
But the me of right now spotted Alden in line for the hotel elevator, and screw past me and all my assumptions and biases, because this joy was too good to deny. I hadn’t been this happy in a long, long time, even with all the worries about the tournament looming.
“Hey.”
“Hi.” He nodded at me, a strange expression on his face. His eyes flashed with pleasure, but the tight lines around them spoke to the sort of exhaustion that had me worrying.