It was around midday when Sara heard about a local Game of Thrones trivia night at MOD Pizza, a casual midtown eatery. Instantly she recalled how that cute guy she’d been talking to had a picture of himself sitting on the Iron Throne as part of his dating profile. Sara, for her part, also had years of fandom devotion based on reading the books multiple times and binging each season over and over. Luckily for her, that cute guy was up for some last-minute plans and so they met up for pizza on October 11, 2017. Having an activity (trivia) to focus on helped soothe all of the typical first-date jitters and hiccups, like when they looked into sharing a pizza and Marcus suggested a meat-loaded option. Sara had to politely decline the offer, explaining her lifetime of not eating red meat or pork. Marcus was taken aback by this news and as you may recall, back in 2017 he was splitting his time between manning the BBQ pit with Leonard at Truth BBQ in Brenham and mastering geophysics at the University of Houston. Fortunately for all involved, Marcus was intrigued enough to look past this highly suspicious behavior from a born and raised Texan, at least for that present moment, so the MOD Squad put in their orders. As the place filled up with tables of teams, Sara and Marcus found a booth along the perimeter and dug into their polar oppositely composed personal pizzas. Where he went marinara with a variety of meaty toppings, she opted for an alfredo base with all the veggies piled on top. Both content with their choices, the date continued with small talk between bites. What soon became obvious was that their “team” of two was much much smaller than the rest of the field. No matter, what they lacked in members they more than made up for in knowledge of the subject at hand. The host passed out the answer sheet and explained the rules to a crowd that seemingly was very familiar with the order of things. As newcomers, Sara and Marcus listened intently. Despite her abysmal spelling, Sara took the scribe position, as her handwriting was the cleanest. She also liked being in the driver's seat. Marcus kindly supported this driver/passenger arrangement. The questions began. Sara often had finished writing the answer by the time the question was read aloud for the second time, an apparent standard feature to this game’s proceedings. Marcus, for the most part, knew the answers as well but by the time he whispered them to her, she had finished writing. Sara’s adrenaline-fueled enthusiasm and speedy writing rarely allowed for any true team discussion. At one point Marcus mentioned Sara could be doing this as a team of one. Internally she very much agreed. They quickly soared ahead, not missing a single question and gaining all the points available. The very last question was a big one however and missing it would mean losing the game. In a moment of doubt Sara hesitated. Marcus rightfully took over as scribe; a move that proved to be for the best as he had a much closer estimate of actors and extras used in a particular battle. Sara was off by a couple of decimal points for estimating was never a strength of hers. Their ability to switch roles led them to race across the Game of Thrones trivia finish line and crowned the first place winners. This honor included a voucher for a free MOD Pizza dinner in a week’s time at the next trivia night. And so a second date was planned and the rest, as they say, is history.