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Author's note:
This is my entry for the 2020 Geek Pride Day Story Event. As per the rules of the event, this is a stand-alone story. However, if you would like to read more about the couple (including how they first met), they also appear in my story *quot;Footspotting*quot;, which you can find on my submissions page. Also, thanks to CuriousKnight for assistance in editing.
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*quot;Well, Erica and Kevin bailed on us,*quot; Ingrid declared with exasperation from the couch. It was the middle of winter and, despite the apartment's heater, her skinny physique made her feel cold all the time. She wore a sweater, leggings, and heavy wool socks.
*quot;Wait, isn't that everyone?*quot; Roger asked his girlfriend, looking up from the rule book he was reading.
*quot;Yup,*quot; she replied, setting her phone on the coffee table in frustration. *quot;Dan said he had a huge research paper due on Monday that he had forgotten about. Susan said she's feeling sick, but she probably just doesn't want to come. And now Erica and Kevin are out because they 'don't want to be up too late' tonight.*quot;
*quot;Fuck,*quot; Roger swore to himself, setting down the booklet. He and Ingrid had spent the past hour setting up the massive board game that lay sprawled out on the dinner table before him: Crepuscular Interregnum, a strategy game of galactic domination, with tenuous alliances, complex resource management, and epic starship battles. It needed a minimum of three players and could hold up to eight, and was supposed to take six hours or more to complete.

Before he had met Ingrid, about two and a half years ago, Roger would not have been able to even imagine that such a game could exist. But as they dated, her hobbies rubbed off on him. He played more and more board games and joined the D