Collide Gamer

Little bits of steam rose from the tomato soup. John stirred it occasionally with the wooden spoon he had brought along. “Finally, food,” he mumbled. He was positively famished. ‘Wonder if I can get hungry enough to get a debuff.’

“Ya earned it,” Rave shouted over. She was sitting on the couch, trying to get the internet connected to the TV. She was doing all of that in a short, loose orange top and black yoga pants. It was almost as alluring as seeing her naked. Almost. “Technomancers gotta have to get this running,” she mumbled. “Can’t live without the internet, that’d be torture.”

John could only agree. He tried to focus on the meatballs in the soup, rather than Rave. It was difficult when she was stretching and shifting on the couch with all the grace of a bored cat. “Right, do you… want half of the money by the way?” he asked. “I couldn’t have done any of this without you.”

“Nah, I’m good. That’s like 10k? Ain’t that much for me.” John was still not quite sure how money in the Abyss even worked. Neither was he sure how wealthy Rave was. Her father was obviously loaded and apparently she had relatives the world over? “Yes! It’s working!” Rave victoriously declared, just as John filled the meatball tomato soup into two bowls. “Hah, dad left the browser open last ti- Oh.”

John almost forgot about the heated bowls in his hands in response to Rave’s tone. The sudden collapse of any joy made him hurry over and check what was on the screen. It looked like a new version of Amazon crossed with ebay. The typical buy and sell interface. The words Abyss Auction Online were written where the logo was supposed to be.

‘Intel on Dangun Clan raids on southern Japan, Hollmey tributes,’ was one tab, currently unclicked. The one they were currently in showed a ring being sold. A wedding ring, if the solid gold was anything to go by. The words ‘Lightning and Love’ were engraved on the inside. The ring had been put on auction two years ago and bought, whether by Regan or someone else the page did not say. The page may have been left open, but he was logged out.

“She sold the ring,” Rave said in a growly tone. “Who sells their wedding ring? What kind of bitch does that?” John did not know what to say, so he just placed the soup on the table. “It’s a wedding ring…” she whispered. “Ya gotta respect that much… fucking bitch.” Rave suddenly tilted over and fell against his shoulder. “Urgh,” she groaned, while John sat there, frozen. He was just lucid enough to put an arm around her waist in an attempt to comfort her. “Ya ever regret being related to your own mother?”

“Can’t say I do, no,” John reported. “I don’t have anyone in my family that I regret knowing.”

“So I’m all alone in the world, huh?”

“No!” John’s forceful answer made her turn her head. “No…” he repeated, softer, and squeezed her side. “I’m here, I… don’t want to be anywhere else.”

“You really don’t, huh?” Rave tilted her head softly and looked at him. “Hey… you really… aren’t here just because I’m hot, are you?” Before he could answer that, she suddenly backed off and nervously chuckled. “Stupid question, don’t answer that. Let’s just forget this ever happened.” She closed the tabs.

John sat there stunned. He wanted to reassure her more, wanted to answer that question, and he had no idea how to go about it. She started eating the soup and with that the moment had passed. ‘I love you,’ was what John wanted to say to her. ‘Why is that so hard when it's so clear?’ “You wanted to show me that SAO thing?” he offered her a path back to the normal mood.

“Later…” Rave mumbled. They ate in silence. It was the first uncomfortable one that John shared with her. Any ideas he had to cheer her up felt like they were just going to annoy her more. “Aaaaaaaahh!” she suddenly shouted, kicking the air. “Stupid dad still thinking about stupid bitch mom- AH!” She threw her empty bowl on the table and, hair flying, turned to John. “You, John, give me something to do – now!”

“Maybe you could… punch something?” he suggested carefully.

“’Maybe’ ‘perhaps’ ‘have you considered’,” Rave chattered mockingly. She stood up on the couch and, towering over him, pointed straight at his face. “Stop being indecisive, Johnny. Come on! But yes! Let’s punch something and ya gonna treat me like a princess all day, ya got that?”

“Yes, ma’am?” John realized he was sounding all sheepish again. He swallowed and dragged that assertiveness back to the surface. She liked that. No more of the doormat. “If treating you like a princess means punching ghosts in the face until you get tired and then screwing you until you forget this entire morning, I can do that. That what you want to hear?”

“That is ex-act-ly what I wanna hear, tiger!” Rave jumped off the seat. “Ya forgot one thing that I want though.”

John had no idea what that something was and she was not telling him. Just going with what his intuition told him. He stood up and hugged her. Arms wrapped around her upper torso, he just held her and whispered. “I’m here because you’re… my friend,” he whispered to her the thought closest to the truth he could express. “I haven’t known anyone before who would make me feel this comfortable. I’m not just saying that because of what we do. We could stop right now and I’d still like to be around you, Rave. I…  yeah.”

“Jane,” she corrected him. “You call me Jane, you liar.”

“Liar?”

“You’d love to throw me on that bed and go again right now.”

“Yes, but I won’t do it if it means hurting you.”

Rave’s arms brushed up and down his back. “You can let go of me now.”

“You would have to first.”

“I don’t wanna though.”

“Neither do I.”

“Liar, ya still wanna do the bed thing. I can feel something not so small pressing against me. It’s not a roll of pennies.”

“How am I supposed to not get a boner here?”

“Ya could try thinking of me as an old wrinkly dude.”

“You’re way too cute for that.”

Rave just hummed, swaying back and forth and he with her. There was a melody to it. An earworm that he did not share, but eagerly was part of. “This ain’t what I wanted, by the way.” After a short pause she added. “It’s better though.”

“I’ll find every better in the world for you.”

“Alight, now this is getting cheesy,” she laughed and let go. Reluctantly he did the same. “What I wanted to hear was: ‘Hey, let’s kill that Spectre thing again!’ – So that’s what we’re gonna do.”

“Rave, that’s a terrible i-“

“Jane!” she shouted and stabbed his sternum with her index finger. “You – call – me – Jane, Johnny. If ya don’t, I’ll set your pants on fire.”

“Sorry, just habit… Jane,” John complied quickly. “We are still not doing that Spectre thing again though. Not before we have a few more levels.”

“Ya disobeying orders from your princess?”

“If you were a real princess, I’d have to send an envoy to the prince of Aragon to arrange a political alliance.”

“You’re such a nerd,” Rave chuckled and gave him a crooked, toothy smile. “If ya don’t do what I want, imma tell daddy about what happened yesterday.”

John felt the blood drain from his face. The image of Regan effortlessly slicing the pizza with his finger was still fresh on his mind. “Y-you wouldn’t…”

“I have ya by the balls, Gamer,” Rave purred and squeezed his crotch, “literally. Now ya gonna do what the princess wants or not?”

“You really know how to act the part of being spoiled rotten.”

“I know right?” Rave laughed, the squeezing turning into a soft message. “Come on, we don’t have all day.”

They absolutely did, that was the whole purpose of camping out here in the first place. “Fine…” he relented reluctantly and walked away from her to get his shoes.

“Oh, don’t be such a downer,” Rave said, almost pleaded, as she followed him. “Ya were such a nice guy just moments ago.”

“I don’t like seeing you hurt.”

“Neither do I like getting hurt, but if ya just do stuff that’s safe ya gonna die of boredom.” She sat down next to him, slipping into her sneakers while he tied his laces. “How about I cut ya a deal: if we kick the Spectre’s butt before sundown, I’ll let ya take pictures.”

John knew he was being manipulated and he knew that it was way too easy and still he asked, intrigued, “What kind of pictures?”

“What kind ya like?” she hummed suggestively and bent forwards. Her loose top dangled, giving him a clear look at the black bra underneath. “Before sundown,” she reminded him. Her eyes were almost entirely pink at the moment, filled to the brim with mischievous light. “We best get started quickly.”