“I don’t care if it’s the worst piece of shit ever made. I can’t help you fix it if I don’t know what we’re working with.”
Without further protest, Nate deploys the demo. I stare in awe of the perfectly crafted storyboard that plays out before my eyes. King Meliorn raises his sword in the air and lightning shoots down from the dark sky, illuminating the blade. Dialogue scrolls across the screen as the king talks about the history of the sword that’s lethal to anyone who opposes the kingdom. To retrieve the sword from the River of Nightmares, the player must complete a series of tasks on their journey to make themselves worthy of the sword’s power. When the short demo ends, my mouth hangs open.
“Nate,” I say under my breath. “It’s…”
“Horrible, right? I know. Don’t say it.”
I take his left hand in mine and give it a good squeeze. “No, it’s incredible. I love the backstory behind the characters and the world.”
“You’re only saying that because you have to.”
“Not at all. Our relationship has nothing to do with it.” I point at the screen. “Have you shown this to Stefan?”
He shakes his head.
“How about your team?”
Another headshake.
“Well, you should,” I say to encourage him. “They will love it.”
“This is our thing, though. I don’t want anyone on my team involved yet. And I don’t want Stefan trying to take credit again.”
His words bring a smile to my face. “I love that we have our own thing, but our game needs a name if we ever plan to sell it.”
“What are your ideas?”
“The story behind the sword reminds me of Arthurian legend. The quest to find the sword and become worthy of its power is similar to The Holy Grail. So, I see King Meliorn as the Fisher King.”
“But he’s not wounded,” Nate points out. “In Arthurian legend, the Fisher King was handicapped in some way.”
“What if we went down that road with this story? We could make King Meliorn bound to a magical wheelchair or have some kind of crutch and our heroes would have to cure him in order to become worthy of the sword’s power.”
Nate slides his hand to the back of my head and kisses my forehead. “You’re brilliant, woman. See, this is why I needed you to finish the game.”
“I tell stories with my drawings. You tell them with your games.”
“We always made a damn good team.” He smiles, a genuine one that warms my insides. “The Fisher King, huh?”
I nod. “Yeah, I like that angle. People love the quest for The Holy Grail. I see King Meliorn as the last descendant of a long line of men tasked with keeping the sword from evildoers. Only a knight with the power to heal the king will become worthy of removing the sword from the River of Nightmares.”
“And he’ll become the new king.”
“Yes. But the knights have to gain magic along the way. We need to create a series of tasks they have to complete and opponents they have to beat to advance to the next level, while earning experience points and getting new armor and weapons. You know, the usual stuff, but more geared around the legend of the sword and the magic of this world.”
“We could make the online version teams of three,” Nate says. “We can do a play on the names Percival, Galahad, and Bors since they were the knights that, according to the legend, healed the Fisher King. And in the earliest version, it was Percival by himself, so that works for the single-player mode.”
“I love it!” I throw my arms around Nate’s neck and smack a kiss on his cheek. “This game is going to be amazing.”
“I needed my partner in crime,” he says, hugging me back. “And I was thinking we could go out tonight.”
“Like a date?”
He smirks. “Yeah, like a date. What do you say, wife?”
I smile in response, and then he kisses me.
Date in nerd speak isn’t the same as a date for normal people. When Nate said he wanted to take me out for our first official date as husband and wife, he had other plans in mind. We strolled through LOVE Park, an iconic Philly attraction, holding hands and people watching. Spying on strangers as they go about their day helps with my art. Sometimes, they give me inspiration for a new piece. Nate says observing people in their natural habitat helps him write better characters for his video games so that they look and feel more realistic.
We took selfies in front of the LOVE statue. When in Rome, right? Might as well poke fun at the tourists while we’re here. As children, when we visited Queen Takes King headquarters, we would beg our nannies to take us here. Our fathers were always working, too busy to take us themselves. A lot of memorable childhood moments occurred in this park, which makes it the perfect location for our first date.