On an unassuming late night at a local game cafe in the summer of Pokemon Go, Ricky and Caroline were sharing front desk duty and saw a Facebook advertisement for a Legend of Zelda concert to be held in October. Ricky asked Caroline if she was interested in going; Caroline lamented that she didn't really have anyone to go with. "I'll go with you," he offered, and in but a few minutes the two had tickets to go see the show together: an investment in their budding friendship.

The two would spend the months leading up to the concert staying late after work while their friends played just one more game of League of Legends, walking home together through the treelined streets of Allston, and watching Goosebumps 1995 on the haunted mystery couch in Caroline and Arty's college apartment. Somewhere along the way, the two slowly but surely found their friendship blossoming into something more, and suddenly the concert turned from a friend date into a real one. On the way to dinner after the concert, Ricky stopped Caroline on the bridge over the swan pond in the Boston Public Gardens and asked her to be his girlfriend. Caroline, of course, said yes.

This first adventure would lead into so many countless other adventures both big and small in the years to come. From early morning drives into 8AM lectures to late night Charmander hunts on Harvard Ave, Caroline and Ricky made it their mission to accompany each other through wherever their journeys took them.

After Caroline graduated college, a new chapter of their relationship began, ushering in a host of new challenges to take on together: getting altitude sickness in Yosemite National Park during a 11 day roadtrip across the country on their way to their new home; adopting a maltipoo who is perhaps as clever and stubborn as his namesake, Alphinaud of Final Fantasy XIV fame; moving back across the country during COVID to buy their first home; and travelling to over 20 states to see many friends and make so many more memories.

After 6 years of companionship, Ricky proposed to Caroline on their anniversary at the very spot it all started: right on the bridge in the Gardens. Caroline, of course, said "yes!"

And so began yet another chapter in their story, one building up to a brand new adventure into uncharted waters, but one that both Ricky and Caroline are eager to take on knowing they will always have each other as their player 2.