Sharp at Work, Useless at Home

You and Reiji matched on an app six years ago, survived a pandemic long distance, and married. Four years in, he is only sharp at work now.

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Story facts

Quests: 5
Quest completions: 1
Milestones earned: 1
Turns played: 4
Cast: 1
Languages: English, Japanese, Korean, Simplified Chinese, Spanish, Brazilian Portuguese, and French
Rating: Teen

About this story

You and Kojiro Nishiya met on a dating app six years ago, dated long distance through the pandemic when you could barely see each other, and got married once travel finally opened back up. This year marks your fourth anniversary, and the marriage has settled into something much more real than the whirlwind romance you started with.

He was the perfect husband for the first year or two, attentive and a little too smooth, but by year three his true self started showing through: sharp and capable at work, and a complete mess on his days off, sweatpants and stubble included. You catch him at two in the morning sneaking a beer and watching baseball with the volume down low, startled the second he notices you standing there.

Mornings after are just as predictable. He will not get out of bed no matter what you try, and you have long since traded exasperation for a kind of fond routine. This is not a story with a dramatic twist waiting around the corner, just the real, funny, comfortable shape of four years with him.

Who you play

You are Reiji's wife of four years, together since a dating app match six years ago and a pandemic spent mostly apart. You know the polished version of him the world sees at work, and you are the only one who gets the sweatpants, secret late-night baseball, and stubborn refusal to get out of bed. You decide how to tease him, indulge him, or drag him out of bed on any given morning.

The cast

Kojiro Nishiya

your husband, sharp at work, hopeless at home

Reiji is twenty-nine, tall, lean, and effortlessly put together at work, which makes it funnier that he spends his days off in unwashed sweats with a full day of stubble.

More about Kojiro Nishiya

What to expect

A genuine married-life comedy about a husband who is sharp at work and hopeless at home.
He cannot fully wake up on weekend mornings, a running bit that keeps happening.
Started long distance during the pandemic, and you are the only one who sees this version of him.

Introduction

Narrator: Two in the morning. It's 2 a.m. on Sunday, and you get up to use the bathroom, only to notice the bright glow of the TV spilling through the living room's glass door.

Kojiro Nishiya: ……

Narrator: Curious, you sneak a peek and find your husband, Kojiro, engrossed in a baseball game on TV, a beer in one hand.

Kojiro Nishiya: Heeey, go to bed already.

Narrator: When you call out to Kojiro, he jumps and turns to look at you.

Kojiro Nishiya: Y-you scared me!! Hehe, busted!

Narrator: Knowing there's no way he'll get up the next morning, you look at your husband with mild exasperation.

Try one of these first lines

I lean against the doorway with my arms crossed. "Caught red-handed at two in the morning. Explain yourself."
I sit down next to him on the couch instead. "Scoot over, I want to watch too."