She looked at the board. The holopieces were on almost every space. Don’t keep looking at that spot, he’ll know your next move. The score was close, too close for her. If he won she would spiral, and she knew it. Why she had ever agreed to play Terestrial Venture she couldn’t remember. Oh yeah, the eyes. Those cursed green discs. I thought he would stop looking at me like that by now.
“Are you going to go before the solar century is over, or should I go read a holonovel or something?”
“You’re so impatient Good Witch.”
“I wish you would stop calling me that.”
“It’s a cute nick name.”
“I don’t even know who Glinda the Good Witch is. Don’t you think it’s a strange how obsessed you are with Archaic Earth Literature? Everyone else just calls me Glin.”
“That sounds like a man’s name. I’m confident you would love The Wonderful Wizard of Oz.”
Ransom glanced at his pieces once more and slid one into place. Glinda’s heart raced as she watched him take her spot. Now she would definitely lose.
“You jerk! You knew I wanted to go there. Ugh, I hate this game. Fine, whatever, you win.” She waved her arm in a flourish to concede and accidentally knocked over her plutarian red tea.
In seconds it had spread over the entire table and the Terestrial Venture game was shooting sparks everywhere. Once that stopped a steady stream of smoke filled the room.
Glinda watched as Ransom grabbed a hot glove from the kitchen and carried the game to the trash shoot. He looked at her for approval and placed it inside the hatch as she nodded.
“It’s gone, even I know you can’t fix a hologame once you drown it in red tea.”
“That’s ok, it didn’t seem like you enjoyed the game much anyway. Want to talk about it?”
“It’s none of your business.”
Ransom walked toward the kitchen. Once he was inside Glinda heard several beeps that meant he was using the beverage screen to order another tea. He came back with a hand vac and sucked up the rest of the tea on the table. Glinda watched in silence. Tea in hand, he came back and set it on the table in front of the holoscreen.
“Movie?”
“Aren’t you going to say anything about my tantrum?”
“Do you want me to?”
“You aren’t even a little mad?”
“I don’t understand why you hate that game so much, but I’m sure there’s a reason. But if you don’t want to tell me I won't keep asking.”
“Fine.”
Glinda moved from the table and sat next to him on the large silver poof suspended from the ceiling with metal cable.
“Command Window,” Glinda said. The holoscreen rose into a slot in the ceiling and the rings of Saturn emerged.
“I still don’t know how you managed to get a place with a view like this. My place overlooks the sewage processing barge.”
“My dad and mom split, and neither one wanted to stay in this system so they let me take over the contract.”
“Rent controlled?”
“Definitely. How else could I afford a place like this with my platzy job?”
“Nice.”
They sat there, staring out the window. Glinda remembered how often she had done the same thing with dozens of other men. But they always left, just like Ransom would.
“It’s amazing. The motion is hypnotizing. The company is pretty blastic too.”
“I’m sorry I lost my temper. I used to play that game with my ex.”
“Why didn’t you tell me you didn’t want to play?”
“Because it’s weird to talk about your ex with your new, whatever you are. And I didn’t want you think I was being random. He always won. He would be such a platz about it.”
“We didn’t have to play, why did you even keep the game?”
“I don’t know. I guess I never thought it would be ok to get rid of it.”
Ransom walked over to the trash shoot and pushed the button with a flame on it.
“Well now you never have to worry about it again.”
He sat next to her and pulled her close.
“I’m not going away anytime soon, so you might as well stop trying to push me away.”
“That’s what you say now.”
“I like you, I know how you are, and I like you. I’m not going to let you get rid of me. I’ll wait, however long it takes for you to stop being surly and defensive.”
“I don’t know how to believe you.”
“That’s ok, I’m patient, unlike you Good Witch.” Ransom leaned over and kissed her head. They watched the gas and debris tumble past in a perfect ring as a mix of gold, sapphire, and sienna. As much as she wanted to believe him, she knew it would take time. Then again, he seemed ok with that. He traced her fingers with his. She had never met a man so content to sit and watch. Just to be with her. It was nice.
“So tell me more about the wizard, if I would love it so much.”
Ransom got off of the couch and grabbed his bag. He pulled out something she had never seen. It was a stack of thin, cream layers. They were all the same shape and thickness and were fused together at one end.
“Is that..?”
“Yeah, it’s a paper book. It’s the new trend print them on paper again.”
“Isn't that wasteful? That’s why we have holonovels.”
“Smell it. Touch it. It’s different." He held it out to her but she refused to take it. 
"Do you want to hear about the wizard or not?”
She nodded. He sat and motioned for her to rest her head on his lap.
“You’re going to read me that whole thing?”
“You don’t like the sound of my voice?”
“No, I like it,” she put her head on his lap and looked up as he held rested the book on  the poof where the cable connected to form an edge and flipped through the first few pages with his thumb.
“Dorothy lived in the midst of the great Kansas prairies…”