Cycle 30-5: Winner Winner, Chicken Dinner (Patreon)

After cleaning up Vinny's room and a quick trip to the grocery store, Kaitlyn managed to get the house into a far more hospitable state. Once again, her ability to cook food that was actually edible ingratiated herself to the guy and his roommates both. Even better, the access to a full oven allowed her to experiment with a number of new recipes.

The weeks passed in a comfortable rhythm of cooking, cleaning, and shopping for groceries. Unlike her first time here, she was no longer a complete wreck.

There were moments when the end of the previous loop would catch up with her. The feeling of sheer isolation and helplessness crept up without warning, especially when she took some time to really think about the events. But it was nothing like the all-consuming pit she'd experienced before.

Last time, I legitimately needed to run away. I needed to get some distance from Hartland and find a distraction. But now? I'm… I'm handling it. Bit by bit.

Because of that, she found herself actually talking with the house's other occupants – particularly Chris and Ryan. Both of them were more than happy to chat when they came home from classes. Whether it was because they were procrastinating on their work or they simply wanted to sneak early bites of her food, she wasn't entirely sure. But either way, the conversation helped to make sure she didn't retreat too far into herself.

She sat on the couch, a PlaySphere controller in her hands. On the TV, two anime-style swordsmen faced off, taking turns slashing at each other.

The front door swung open with a quiet squeal. She glanced up briefly. "Hey, Vinny."

He grunted in greeting. "Sup. What're you up to?"

"Just playing some Water Insignia." Kaitlyn nodded at the screen. "Figured I had some time while dinner's finishing up."

The game was one of a few that they had here, and the best by far. Kaitlyn considered ordering a copy of Bash Bros for them, but had decided against it. Her money was better spent on food and other necessities.

"The hell's Water Insignia?"

She raised her eyebrows. "You've never played?"

"Nope. That thing's Zach's, I don't touch it."

"I mean, he doesn't seem to mind." Kaitlyn shrugged. "I asked and he's totally cool with me playing on it."

Vinny stepped into the living room and flopped onto the couch next to her. He watched the TV as she continued to play, navigating her troops into battle formations and sending them into combat. Another cutscene started where a mounted lancer stabbed down at an armored knight.

The blonde snorted. "Looks like a weeb game."

"Doesn't mean it's not fun." She shrugged. "Wanna try?"

"Hell no." Vinny scratched at his neck. "Looks way too complicated. Why does it even need so many numbers?"

"Well, they tell you how a battle's gonna go. The top one's for how much damage you'll do, then it's how likely you are to hit…"

He raised a hand. "I don't actually care. I don't need a damn lecture on the game."

Kaitlyn chuckled. "Fair enough."

She continued playing, mobilizing her troops in a blitzkrieg-style advance across the map. She's already had to retry this level twice for being too slow, and she had no intention of losing a third time.

As the battles played out, Kaitlyn watched Vinny out of the corner of her eye. He's not leaving or anything… Maybe I should talk to him?

Despite spending an entire loop living with the guy, she knew remarkably little about him. Only that he was a dropout from the other college in the area, Rosedale, and that he liked picking up stray cats. Kaitlyn had been far too absorbed with her own issues to dig deeper into his history.

I'll have to learn about him anyway. Maybe this is a good chance to do that.

She grimaced at the idea. Not that she minded talking to the guy. She quite liked it, actually. But it was hard to feel like she was going into it with pure intentions. Anything she learned would be valuable information for endings, after all.

That just feels scummy.

A pang of loneliness shot through her. Dangit. This sucks. I feel like I can't even make a real connection anymore. Not without having ulterior motives. Even if I DO want to just talk to the guy, it feels so… fake.

She shook her head. No. She couldn't let herself fall into that trap. It wasn't fake. She did care. Vinny had been good to her, and the least she could do was be polite in return. Timeloop be damned.

It's not like I'm going for an ending here, either. I just want to talk.

With a bit of effort, she forced herself to start a conversation. "So… you're a Rosedale student, right?"

"Was." Vinny snorted. "I dropped out. Kinda like you."

She'd already known that, of course. But starting in familiar territory made her a little more comfortable. Besides, the guy hadn't seemed to shy away from the topic before, so it felt like a safe enough bet to talk about.

"I didn't drop out," she corrected. "I'm still a student. I'm just using my time wisely."

"Sure, whatever you say girlie."

After a moment, she asked another question. "What made you drop out?"

"Eh." Vinny shrugged. "Didn't really care. My grades were shit, my major was shit, it was all shit."

Yeah, she nodded sagely. I can relate to that one.

"Does Rosedale have the same garbage policies as Hartland? Where you can't drop classes or change your major too often?"

"Nah," he grunted. "I dropped plenty of 'em. But can't drop 'em all. Figured I'd take my chances doin' my own thing after fuckin' that up a few times."

"Huh." Kaitlyn frowned. "So you're just hanging around here, now?"

"What is this, a damn interrogation?" Vinny leaned his head back against the pillow. "The fuck do you care?"

"What? I'm just curious." She raised her hands placatingly. "I'm living in your room, and I barely know anything about you!"

"Yeah? Maybe you shoulda thought of that before stealin' my bed." Vinny draped his arms over the back of the couch. "Kinda late for that, ain't it?"

She chuckled dryly. Normally, you'd have a point. Normally. But not here.

Still, she backed off. "Fine, fine. I'm just trying to make conversation… Dangit!"

She sucked in a hissing breath as her axe-wielding fighter missed two attacks in a row. As it changed to her opponent's turn, the mounted knight he'd been fighting then proceeded to rush in and stab her mage to death.

"Come on!" She groaned. "How did I lose that?"

Vinny chuckled. "Well obviously, you didn't look at the numbers."

"I did! I had 72% hit odds on each of those attacks, and I just needed one to land!" Kaitlyn gave an exasperated groan. "That's only an 8% chance to miss both… Not to mention his chance to hit… Seriously."

He snorted. "Damn, you're doin' actual stats for this? No wonder you're skipping classes. You are a nerd."

"Am not." She elbowed him. "It's pretty basic stats, anyway."

Kaitlyn stood from the couch, stepping toward the PlaySphere where it rested below the TV.

"What're you doin'?"

"Resetting." She held the power button until the console flickered off. "I've gotta restart the level."

His brow furrowed in confusion. "Why?"

"Because my mage died. When a character dies in this game, they're dead for good. I put a lot of effort into training him up, and I'm not letting that go to waste."

Vinny rolled his eyes. "This's sounding less like a game and more like a damn job. You sure you're even enjoying this?"

"Of course!" Kaitlyn flopped onto the couch again. The main menu appeared onscreen in a ripple of crystalline water. "I like the challenge. The game doesn't pull any punches, you know? It makes it even more satisfying when I actually do win."

"Whatever." The blonde got to his feet with a grunt, stretching. "I'm goin' upstairs. When's food?"

Kaitlyn glanced at her phone. The chicken in the oven shouldn't have too much longer to go. I'll have to check it in a few minutes.

"Twenty minutes? Maybe?" She paused, then corrected herself. "Maybe thirty. I'll call you down when they're ready."

With a final grunt and a wave, he left her alone. Kaitlyn got partway through another attempt at the level before pausing to check on dinner. The cajun-butter chicken breasts looked just about perfect.

She wasn't entirely sure whether this recipe would work out in the oven. She'd always done it on the stovetop for herself, like the recipes suggested. However, with how much these guys ate, she wanted to make try scaling up accordingly.

And maybe I just want more excuses to use the oven. She suppressed a small smile. Maybe.

Switching the oven over to broil, she tossed in her already-prepared sheet of broccoli to crisp up while she transferred the chicken to a few plates and finished them off. As the finishing touches came together for dinner, her mind wandered back to her plans.

Now that a few weeks had gone by, she found herself facing down the problem of what to do next. She'd already let Heather know about the situation via text, and she didn't have any particular obligation to return.

I did say I'd go back for exams. I don't have to, but I could.

The idea wasn't particularly appealing. Why should she? The whole point of this loop was to relax, reflect, and mourn. Something she'd had plenty of time for here.

If I go back to campus, I'm worried I'll throw myself into everything right away. She frowned. I know that I CAN take a loop off from Kate's Kitchen and Chella's and trying out any new classes. But… I'm afraid Ill get swept up again if I don't have a little bit of distance. I might get restless and just… let myself fall back into routine. Into the trap of not really addressing my feelings.

It was one of the reasons she hadn't started a Kate's Kitchen alternative here. Besides, the money wasn't actually necessary. Sure, it helped, but she didn't explicitly need it. Not with her limited needs.

I gave myself one loop to recover. And I'm doing that. I'm really trying to focus on the feelings this time. And however I feel by the end of this loop, even if I've still got lingering regrets, I'll make myself get back into the swing of things. But for now… is it really so bad to take a bit of time to myself?

She enjoyed being here. It felt a little wrong to admit it – like she didn't deserve to be happy yet. Not this soon. But the guys been good to her. Plus, the change of environment really helped to break up the endless sameness of the loops.

It felt appropriate. Especially as a way to mark the end of her chapter with Philip.

Just like that, a wave of loneliness overtook her. The idea that the guy was gone hadn't really settled in yet. If she tried, she could almost pretend that the reset hadn't actually happened. That he'd be right there waiting for her next time she went to Chella's.

I wonder if he's changed like Alex did.

A faraway look softened her features with melancholy. Maybe that was reason enough to go back. To see what had happened to him. It had given her closure last time, at least.

And unlike last time, I won't be able to avoid him forever. I want to keep working at Chella's. So I'll have to figure it out one way or another.

Her timer dinged. Swiping a dry towel from the counter, she retrieved the browned broccoli from the oven and set it on the stove.

Perfect.

The chicken, broccoli, and some warmed rice made their way over to the main table. She sucked in a breath and called out. "Dinner!"

The creaking of doors and dull thumps of footsteps followed her call. With a small grin, she sat down at the table.