Chapter Text
Her fingers drummed against her thigh nervously. Sweat was beginning to build up on her face, tempting her to take off the headset so she could breathe.
She glanced at the avatar next to her, who was sitting against the wall next to her. Before he turned his head, she stared straight ahead.
He didn’t let this slide.
“What?”
Her eyebrows furrowed. She turned back to him, staring at him in silence.
His character obnoxiously smiled at her, but he sounded unlike himself.
He sounded tired.
“What? Whaddya want? Something on my avatar?”
She shook her head, and they fell back into silence.
This is just so… extremely strange. Her brain supplied in the quiet. The lobby they were in was nearly full, and the game was just waiting on a couple more players to join. She wasn’t sure if it was because it was one in the morning, but everyone was chatting and chilling instead of the usual hectic, toxic trashtalk. She looked around and noted how cutely cozy the waiting lobby was, which was also jarring with how different it was from the rest of the circus. It resembled the dining area of a fast food stop, with booths, tables, a counter, an inaccessible kitchen, and a TV in the corner. The developers had a bizarre sense of humor when it came to designing some of the rooms.
“You find the TV interesting?”
At his low voice, she snapped her gaze at him, catching his lazy eyes and wide smile. His words tumbled around in her head until she realized that he was talking to her… and then realized that he had asked her a question.
She shook her head, which visibly confused him as he scratched his head.
“Why were you staring at the TV then?”
She wasn’t staring at the TV; she was just spacing out, but she could see why it was weird. However, the question she wanted to ask him was “why are you staring at me staring at nothing?”
Instead, she shrugged, and then they fell into silence once more. It was unusual for him to start so much small talk, and even more unusual that she didn’t mind this serenity that they were sitting in. Not trying to beat each other at the game, not fuming at him for being an obnoxious asshole—just them sitting here and waiting together. They had even decided to be on the same team this time.
I guess I only have myself to blame for this awkwardness. Pomni sighed to herself. I invited him, after all.
Or maybe she could blame him for looking so lonely and sad and not hopping off early or at the same time as everyone else like he usually does.
They were still waiting on one player to join the lobby before they could start the game. Pomni checked the time, noting that they had only been waiting for five minutes since joining the lobby. It was insane that it took no time at all for his behavior to drive her crazy, and he wasn’t even trying.
“So, are you a real person?” he asked suddenly, “Or am I talking to a bot right now?”
She stared at him again.
“I mean, I ask because you play like a bot.” She felt the vein in her forehead twitch at his avatar’s creepy, smug grin. “Like, just real bad sometimes.”
She put in the effort of selecting an angry scowl for her character’s face. To her surprise, he laughed. It wasn’t as grating as it was earlier, but breathy and quiet, like her decision of emoting at him was genuinely funny.
“I wonder what you sound like. Why don’t you talk, huh, Pomni?” he poked her avatar’s forehead. “It would make this game a whole lot easier.”
She shrugged, then picked an emote where she stuck out her tongue. He asked in a light-hearted tone, much lighter than earlier, “And was that supposed to answer my question?”
She shrugged again, then looked away. Some players were roleplaying as employees and customers of the diner. Pomni giggled to herself as one “customer” was getting very heated over the fact that they “asked for no pickles” to an “employee,” who appropriately donned a Squidward model.
[64/64 PLAYERS JOINED]
“Oh, nice!” He cheered next to her. When she blinked, guns appeared all around the diner.
[WARM-UP: 1:00]
And suddenly, it was chaos.
[WARM-UP: 0:59]
Normally, she’d be guns blazing by now, but the coziness of the quiet permeated within her mind, so she stayed where she was as the players entered a vicious cycle of shooting each other, dying, respawning, and redoing the process all over again.
“What’s this? Old Pompom is back?” To her surprise—the hundredth surprise of the night, probably—Jax stayed next to her. He was wielding a pistol, but he didn’t make any moves to join the fray. The warm-up countdown continued, but they paid it no mind as their characters looked at each other.
She shrugged.
“You know, you really piss me off with that.” Jax told her, sounding more like his joyful, distasteful self. “The fact that it’s one of the only things you can do to communicate is stupid. Just buy a mic. Do you need me to send you money?”
Pomni didn’t need Jax—the guy with the trashiest mic of their group—to buy her a mic. She shook her head.
“Oh, my God. Finally, a different movement!” He threw his head back and guffawed. She wasn't entirely sure why he was so surprised when she did that earlier. Maybe her shrugging really was driving him crazy. Pomni watched him laugh like no tomorrow, feeling a peculiar sense of smugness at how he was beginning to wheeze. Abruptly, he stopped, leaning in very close to her. Unfortunately, his unexpected movement actually made her flinch.
“This’ll be fun.” Jax snickered, “We’re gonna die so fast because you can’t even talk. No wonder you lose alllll the time to me.”
He shrugged, his toothy grin mocking her. “Well, besides the fact that you play like an NPC.”
Pomni stared at him as he cackled again, his avatar jittering around absurdly.
And then, hearing enough, she shot him.
[WARM-UP ENDED]
In a blip, they were in the grassy hills of a battlefield, the sounds of chaos like a reverberation in the air as players began their march toward the capture points. Vehicles drove past them in a frenzy with a helicopter flying overhead.
Jax was staring at her.
“You shot me!”
She shrugged, which made him emit sounds of indignant rage. To herself, she was giggling like a maniac under her headset.
“Pompom, how are we gonna win this game if you’re over here shooting at me?”
She stared at him, as though pointing out the fact that he was the one who claimed that they were going to lose. Jax put his hands up in surrender. “Alright, I see your point. But maybe we can beat these suckers. We’re on the same team! Put a little effort into it, will ya?”
I already was! She could practically shout at him, maybe even strangle him if he wasn’t already running toward the chaos. “Keep up, Pompom! We gotta get B while they’re distracted on A!”
Her eyes nearly rolled out of its sockets. He was a good distance away but still shouting things like “don’t be the NPC everyone says you are!”
You’re the one saying that! Pomni seethed. With a flick of a switch, she bit out, “Jax, you asshole.”
He stopped where he was, far from her. She flicked the switch again in a panic.
Oops, did he actually hear that?
Then, he was sprinting toward her. Before long, he had made his way back to her, his tall avatar a bit intimidating now for some reason.
“Did you just say something?” Jax asked, genuine curiosity in his voice. “I thought I saw the mouth on your character move.”
Realizing she was still safe and that befuddling Jax was immensely satisfying, Pomni grinned. Then, she shrugged with an extra dose of blasé before sprinting away, enjoying the frustrated noises in her wake.
She didn’t think they’d ever have a moment like this, considering their rivalry, and the fact he was a major asshole. Pomni didn’t want to think about how she even ended up enjoying this game more than she thought she would, nor the random people who made that possible.
Jax chased after her, shouting a bet, “Top of the scoreboard gets fifty-dollars worth of Cainebux!”
Oh, he’s so on. She’s been meaning to get a new pair of digital shoes. With a grin on her face, she raced past him, intent on coming out on top. Pomni couldn’t help the giggles escaping her, wondering when Jax became one of those people that made this game so fun.
That reflection can wait another time. Pomni charged onto the point, scoring kills left, right, and center. Right now, I have to win against that jerk!