[ The upside of having this conversation in person is that Krouse can tell that if Riz was humouring him, he'd have to be uncannily good at it, because he can't pick up on a single false note. ]

E-sports, yeah.

[ It's flattering that Riz paid enough attention to remember, almost embarrassingly more so that he's actually enthused about it. If Krouse didn't know he was still good enough to pull off some moves despite being out of practice, he'd probably be nervous. Making a personal note to spend a little more time on the controllers when he has it to spare is just about making sure he's polished. ]

And it's slightly weird, but Kate's cool. I think she mostly wants to keep us from falling straight into shiftless deliquency so that she doesn't get an earful about not setting a good enough example for her fellow youth.

[ He's not defending her, exactly. It is weird. But she's been decent enough to earn some contextualizing. ]

Anyway. Definitely. Even if I think I'm getting the better end of the deal, here. [ He rotates his coffee mug between his hands as his grin brightens. ] Especially because I'm getting the better end of the deal, actually.

And don't tell Fabian I said this, but he's something else. I've never seen anyone use a sword like that before outside of a movie.

[ He wonders where their synergy is falling a little short. It's a major adjustment to adapt to losing half of your team. If he gets a look at it, maybe might have some ideas - but that's getting way too ahead of himself. ]