Brad's hands were covered in grease stains and marked with half-healed cuts and burns. Reka had a little freakout the first time he came home with a little souvenir from his part time job, but she kissed it better and everything was fine again. Oddly, it seemed she took more comfort from kissing his burn than he did.
The semester was winding down and so was his time in the undergraduate research project. It was an interdisciplinary team where they collaborated, designed, and built several key components for crystal-cutting machines that would be assembled and installed in Stardust City. For the first time since Brad had started college he felt like a real engineer, like he could really do this for a living and do it well. He made some real friends here, and as much as he would hate to admit it, his time in the Navy really paid off. The other students were jittery, unfocused, and would start to fidget and impulsively check their phones after a minute or two without stimulation. Brad had stood countless watches on the boat, and found it easy to go right back into sailor-mode as he worked.
Alex had a lot of praise for him, and Brad thought they were really hitting it off as friends, but recently Alex had been oddly cold and distant to him. He didn't want to think badly of his girlfriend but it was pretty obvious the two didn't get along. He could only imagine what Reka had said to Alex.
Reka was very much a "best friend/worst enemy" type of person. If she loved you she really loved you, and that was great for Brad. She made sure he was crushing all his classes and wouldn't let him feel lonely ever. Julie was also a growing part of their life. Watching the mostly normal, if intense, Julie struggle with Reka-isms was peak entertainment.
For those outside Reka's circle of intimates however...
If she didn't love you or at least respect you then you were at best an unpleasant stain on the fabric of her life, a stain only fit for being scrubbed out as soon as possible.
"It's been nice working with you, Alex," Brad said walking over to him. It would only be polite to say goodbye.
"Yeah," he agreed quietly, "just great."
Brad felt guilt pricking at his insides. "Listen, man," he said gently. "I don't know what my girlfriend said to you, but I'm sure it was nothing personal. Sometimes she's just...like that."
"Like what?" Alex demanded harshly, turning to Brad with fire in his eyes.
This dude is really hurt, Brad thought. For a breath he struggled to explain, finally settling on, "she's territorial."
"What, like she thinks I'm trying to steal you?" Alex asked incredulously.
Brad laughed, trying not to sound too awkward. "Well, maybe in a way. You're not there so you don't fully understand, but Reka grieves whenever I go off to do something. She's gotten more normal about it but I can tell the feelings are still there. Her idea of a relationship is us spending every second of every day together."
"And you're okay with that?" Alex asked softly, his hostility seeming to flag a bit.
"Dude, I have to be okay with it. The relationship wouldn't have lasted otherwise. We've been together nine months at this point, almost a year, and it's been all her way all the time. She'll tolerate some respectful dissent here and there if I can make a good argument for it, like being a part of this little research project, but you better believe I would never do something she outright forbids," he shuddered involuntarily.
Alex looked horrified but also somehow interested. "And this is a good life, to you?"
"The best life," Brad said without thinking. "It's nice being loved hard like this."
"Loved hard," Alex repeated slowly, like he was trying on the words for size.
"Loved hard," Brad nodded with emphasis. "With Reka I always know exactly where I stand. There's no jealousy, anxiety, miscommunication, or anything that plagues normal couples, just her will wrapping around me like a blanket."
Brad kind of cringed at describing it that way but even as he said the words he knew they were true. He belonged to Reka utterly, and there was a sense of safety and comfort in the thought, just like a blanket.
Alex just kind of let that thought hang there, perhaps ruminating on it as he was. "Then it's a good thing I'm not trying to steal you," he said after a while.
"Definitely not," Brad agreed. "Count yourself lucky, if you were a girl I really don't know what Reka would do, but it would be ruthless. I don't talk to the other girls here more than I can help, not for my sake, but for theirs. She can really only stomach Julie, now that I think about it."
Alex perked up with sudden interest. "Julie? Who's that?"
"Reka's friend," Brad explained, "pharmacology grad student, works with rats."
Crap! Brad stopped himself before he revealed more. He wasn't sure Reka would be okay with him discussing this with others.
"You didn't tell me Reka had a friend," Alex pressed. He didn't seem mad anymore, just interested, and Brad was grateful for that. "How did they meet?"
Brad scratched the back of his head, trying to figure out how much information he should give away. "Yeah, hehe, something about rats and radiation exposure, a project she's working on, pretty sure it's NDA'd, so forget I said anything," he said quickly, hoping that would be enough to satisfy Alex.
Alex's eyes narrowed. "I haven't heard anything about radiation exposure tests. There shouldn't be any radiation that anyone could potentially be exposed to at Stardust City for at least another year. Are you sure?" Alex looked at him pointedly.
Brad shifted uncomfortably under Alex's gaze. "Listen man, all I know is Reka visited her lab and they hit it off. We've had dinner with her a couple of times and everything."
Alex looked down. "Julie, pharmacology, rats," he repeated to himself.
"That's right," Brad confirmed. "You'd like her."
*********************
Alice's Point of View
Alice spent the next few weeks gathering intelligence on the magical couple. She had to know if this was her world or an alternate, or if this might be the first of many crossings, a magical invasion of Earth itself!
The man was unremarkable and had a face that was frustratingly easy to lose in a crowd. She still hadn't caught his name, just referring to him as "Reka's boyfriend" mentally.
That said it all really. Asking around about Reka's identity was just the opposite. People didn't even think she was creepy for showing interest! Of course you want to know more about the school goddess, we all do!
Reka was so beautiful that Alice seriously considered the possibility that she was a witch using glamours to enhance herself. Tall, leggy, slim but somehow busty, long silky black hair, plump kissable lips, she was annoyingly perfect. At least she was predictable.
Every day she would attend class, have meals with her boyfriend and sometimes one other girl, and lock herself away in the apartment she shared with her man. What were they doing in there?
Alice had memorized their schedules at this point, and if neither of them had classes that day they wouldn't even leave their room, just spent all day together in there, alone.
It was hard to get close enough to observe without drawing suspicion but her intuition told her that something unnatural was going on in that apartment.
One day, Alice was staking out a likely meeting point for the couple using a tree for a bit of cover. She thought she felt a pulse of magic when they kissed one time but hadn't managed to get close enough to confirm. The boyfriend had a job or extracurricular project that let off about this time and Reka was waiting nearby to welcome him back with a kiss.
And wasn't that interesting? Every single time they met or left one another the magical couple kissed. There just had to be some significance to that.
There it was! Reka perked up before the boyfriend was visible. Can you sense his presence? What's the range?
Alice was close this time, if a magical event occurred she would definitely sense it.
The boyfriend approached. The kiss happened and...oh.
There was a transfer of magical information from the man to the woman. That changed everything.
Was the man a wizard? Had he charmed Reka? Was he controlling her?
Perhaps they were not working together after all and Reka was this man's thrall. Did Alice dare approach her to see if she could break the spell?
Reka and the boyfriend/possible wizard manipulator left for their apartment, with Reka showing unusual enthusiasm, practically dragging the boyfriend by the hand. It didn't look natural. Was Alice supposed to believe the beautiful Reka was just that excited to see her Joe average boyfriend? It smelt of magic.
Alice was tempted to follow when she detected a presence, multiple presences behind her.
It was a group of girls she didn't recognize.
"Hey, we noticed you've been following Reka around," one said.
More thralls? Alice wondered. Had the wizard planted them here to watch for spies?
"But we just want you to know, there's a place for you, if you want it," another said.
Alice tensed, were they about to enthrall her as well? She wasn't confident about her magical defense back on Earth.
"Welcome to the club!" they shouted in unison, clapping and cheering enthusiastically.
Club? What were they talking about?
The first girl, possible the leader, seemed to sense her confusion. "You don't know about the Reka fanclub? I thought everyone on campus knew."
Startled, and unable to really process all this, Alice concluded the safest course of action was to play dumb and curious. "I...I didn't know."
The first girl was all smiles, acting like they'd been friends forever. "We've all been there. Don't be nervous. Discovering the perfection that is Reka could turn anyone into a stalker," she said kindly. "Isn't that right girls?"
The others nodded enthusiastically.
There were four: two blondes, a brunette, and an Asian girl.
"I'm Stacy, the president," said one blonde.
"I'm Olivia, the vice president," said the other blonde.
"I'm Candice, the secretary," said the brunette.
"And I'm Liz, the treasurer," said the Asian girl.
The introductions flowed too well, like they practiced, like this was a cheerleading routine or some sorority ritual.
"I'm Alice," said Alice, wondering how her journey as the summoned hero had come to this.
Candice, the secretary, and Liz, the treasurer locked arms with Alice and started dragging her away. Stacy, the president explained while they walked:
"Ok, Alice, if you know anything about Reka, you know she's off to spend the night with her boyfriend and we won't see her until tomorrow, but don't worry! We've got plenty of pictures in the club room for you to admire. If you want, I'll show you my Reka-inspired fashion pinterest later," she winked. "After all, Reka is goals!"
"Reka is goals!" the other girls echoed.
Was this some kind of cult? Was the wizard brainwashing people into worshiping Reka? Thoroughly uncomfortable, Alice allowed herself to be walked to a girl's dorm about five minutes from the University Quad.
"We're all roomies, so setting up our club in the door common room was easy," Stacy explained.
Looking conspiratorial, Olivia, the vice president, said, "I'm in one of the classes she's a TA for, had to change my major and everything, but it was worth it. I was able to get Reka to agree to let me take her picture!"
The other girls loudly congratulated her. "Reka doesn't have social media," Liz explained, "can't be bothered, I guess. It's one of the main things I admire about her," she gushed.
The club room had multiple framed pictures of Reka decorating the walls and a round table surrounded with chairs. "That's our 'Reka discussion' table," Candice, the secretary, said. "Since it's your first time, why don't we sit down and talk about what you like or want to know about Reka?"
"That's a great idea, Candice," Stacy praised.
They all sat down and Stacy offered Alice a seat next to her. Olivia went to get drinks and came back with five hard lemonades. Alice sipped hers cautiously, wondering idly if it contained a potion that might ensnare her mind.
Stacy gave Alice's hand a reassuring squeeze. "I don't want to put you on the spot if you're too nervous your first time, but is there anything you want to talk about?" she asked kindly.
I might as well see what they have to say about my suspicions. "Um, I was wondering about her boyfriend, actually. What's he like?"
The room went quiet. "A romantic, huh?" Olivia teased.
"They are absolute couple goals, I stan," Liz said emphatically.
"He makes her happy, anyone can see it," Candice said.
This was a whole lot of nothing. "But why are they together, how did they even meet?" Alice asked, somewhat despairing of a direct answer.
"I'm afraid even we don't know for sure," Stacy said sadly. "They're in the same department, and the same age, twenty six last I checked. All we can really say is Brad and Reka are completely devoted to one another, couple goals."
"Couple goals!" the others repeated.
Looking as if she noticed Alice's confusion, Stacy asked a question, "Hey did you first become aware of Reka, Alice?"
Alice thought for a moment, considering making up a story but ultimately deciding on the truth. "Well, I'm a server at the Ratt..."
"Oh my god, you saw Reka on date!" Liz looked like she was about to faint. "Tell us more!"
They all leaned in, making Alice feel very crowded all of a sudden. "Reka was wearing a green dress," Alice began.
"I saw that dress!" Olivia shouted. "She taught class in that dress all day, looked like she was going to the Oscars."
"What an icon," Candice muttered. "She wore that dress to class just because, and then she ate pizza. How can we compete?"
"Continue," Stacy implored.
"There's not much more to tell," Alice said. "Brad, that's her boyfriend's name right?"
They all nodded.
"Brad cut up Reka's pizza for her. She didn't ask, he just did it."
They all hummed in agreement. "Yeah, that sounds like something Brad would do," Liz said. "He's always taking care of her. Guys like that don't exist anymore. Reka got the last one. I'm not mad though, she deserves it."
"They were with another woman," Alice went on.
"Julie Winchester, Reka's friend," Olivia clarified, "has also refused to join the club, but she doesn't need to. She gets more Reka time than all of us combined."
Another lead, Alice filed that away for later.
"That's about it," Alice finished. "I saw an absurdly overdressed and absurdly lovey-dovey couple at the Ratt and I wondered what their deal was."
"We understand," Stacy said. "Reka just waltzes through life, effortlessly, complete oblivious to her own impact. She is everything I aspire to be. She is goals."
"Goals!" the group repeated like a prayer.
I've learned a few things, but at what cost? Alice wondered.