The game we were playing was SOL, a sci-fi MOBA for the console; we were enjoying queuing from time to time. We had different giant screens placed one next to the other as we sat on a soft cushion laid on the ground.
"Hey, Luca, I was waiting to ask you something." Lucy asked as the game started.
He then leaned forward towards the screen, and as soon as he did that, an invisible hand grabbed the both of us to make sure we were sitting upright.
Ugh, how annoying.
"What?" I asked him as I was buying the first items and heading to my lane.
"If you can ask for anything? Will you ask for a full dive capsule?" He asked me.
"Nah, my parents will never allow me to get the implants. Not only that, I bet most of those games would make me dizzy. There's no point in playing those games," I answered.
VR games alone are enough to sometimes give me a headache and nausea; I can't imagine what a full dive game would do to me… that's a bit too hardcore for my tastes.
"Blink top." He ordered me as he died while checking the enemy's jungle.
Really? Not even a minute has passed; why did you even bother to check the enemy jungle?
"On it," I responded.
Some time passed; we both were doing our best, but unfortunately the enemies were more coordinated than we were.
"Have you heard anything about your…" He asked me; instead of finishing his sentence, he clicked his tongue.
What is that? What are you referring to? my condition? Ah, yes, that must be it. Just be clear next time; it's annoying if we have to talk in code. Especially if you make it on the spot.
"Not at all. I didn't hear anything new about that… I guess it's probably incurable." I replied.
"Don't lose hope; maybe there's a way to fix your condition." He quietly said as he died again, this time to an enemy gank.
I could tell he was starting to get enraged; the way he gripped the controller changed. He was holding it more tightly, pressing one button constantly until he finally returned alive.
Relax there; you're going to break it. Just take it easy. If you keep it up like that, you're just going to make them snowball even more.
"Hopefully there is. I'm starting to get sick of only being able to taste chocolate." I commented depressingly as I checked the score of the team.
4 deaths already in such a short time… It's not just him; the game is doomed. Fuck, why is everybody else so focused on feeding as much as possible? How did they even die this many times? The game's been going on for not even 3 minutes!
…
"Where are the others?" I asked.
"I don't know; they left in a hurry yesterday and haven't returned since then." He replied.
Hah, good for them; this place is getting real boring real fast.
…
"I heard some commotion this morning; do you know what happened?" I asked him while pretending to not know much.
"Careful, I think they're trying to gank you," I warned him.
"I saw. But why me? Haven't I died enough times? I'm barely worth anything right now!" He raised his voice in frustration as his leg was moving up and down restlessly.
"Apparently a big shot was throwing a fit, something about being ambushed and stolen right after a delivery, so he wanted to put the blame on Father." After almost dying, he finally answered my question.
The enemies were unusually aggressive this game, so our conversation was somewhat delayed.
Wait, what? Then why did he surround the uncle's island with portals?
"That sounds rough." I commented, sweat running down my forehead.
Don't tell me they already figured out it was my…
"It turned worse when there was an assassination attempt." He then added
This felt like a stab in my heart, I could tell; he already knew all about it… that means everyone within the mansion already knew about it, and it was only a matter of time until the uncle also figured it out.
"Sorry," I immediately apologized.
"Well, eventually he calmed down, I think." He said before he died once more.
…
The enemies were focusing on him mostly; this time there were four people waiting for him in his lane.
"This little bitch." He said gritting his teeth in anger.
If your reactions weren't as hilarious, I would've probably had a similar reaction, if not worse.
"So, all good?" I asked.
"I wouldn't tell Father you shot the client if I were you." He warned me.
"Got it."
…
"What's with these enemies? Why are they so aggressive today? Did you play without me? Why are they so strong all of a sudden?" He got really pissed after dying to yet another gank; this time he unleashed his anger at me.
It's the first game of the day, Leo; take it easy. We still have to warm up properly.
"I didn't; I use this account only when we are together." I said it to defend myself.
"Huh?" Suddenly he lost grip over his controller and let it fall on the ground.
What now? Did you die again… wait, no! I didn't mean to—
I turned around and saw his look of betrayal in his eyes.
"Well, I did practice a bit using another account," I confessed.
"Why?" he asked.
"I wanted to show off my skills a bit. " I answered.
At that point I picked his controller and handed it back to him.
"But you're cheating." He protested.
"Not really, my alt rank is not too far off from my main account." I corrected his statement only for him to pinch my right arm in response.
Hey! Calm down.
"That means you suck at cheating! But you're still cheating!" he then added.
I don't think this counts as cheating; I'm just playing the game. It's not like we were in a competition on who gets better at the game…
"Why is it cheating?" I asked.
"Because you promised we would improve together, last time I let you grind offline, you made the game boring to play! You're always looking for ways to minmax, and by then there was little that we could've done or discovered." He explained.
"But that wasn't a MOBA; they're different genres, and haven't I apologized already for that?" I yelled in frustration.
"But the apology is useless if you do the same shit again." He yelled back.
"It's not the same thing," I repeated.
"It's worse, because now you're making my games worse. Because of you, now I get matched with better people!" He raised his voice yet again. After witnessing a notification pop up, he took the controller and began playing again.
"Shouldn't you be thanking me then? Because of me you get to play in the higher leagues." I tried to justify my actions, but no matter what I said, nothing was seemingly improving his mood.
"It's not like they are masters; they just know a tiny bit more than me and have better coordination, that's all." I then added
"You dodged my point." He mumbled to himself once the situation seemingly calmed down.
"Your point makes zero sense. " I yelled once more.
The room then fell in silence; we focused back on the game until Leo died once more.
"Fuck this shit!" He said as he was about to throw the controller at the screen.
"Calm down, it's just—" Olivia tried to speak up to try and calm us down.
"Don't you dare!" We both yelled at her; we couldn't allow her to finish that damned phrase.
She quickly backed away after that and returned to just spectating in silence behind us.
"My bad." She was quick to realize her mistake and back away.
Then someone kicked the door open and loudly barged inside.
"Guys! Have you seen Ilay?" Elvis suddenly asked.
Huh, weren't you away? Leo just told me you all…
"Oh, sorry, I didn't mean to interrupt…" He quickly apologized for the ruckus as he sat behind us.
"Huh?" I was so focused on the game I didn't even hear his question.
"I swear to god, if I get ganked another time…" Leo had died a total of 15 times by now.
"Chill out, we outscale them, and it's the first game of the day; you know how it is… the first game always sucks." I said in an attempt to calm his spirit.
I could see fumes coming out of his ears, a possible side effect of the powers he had.
"Then you shouldn't have queued for a ranked!" He shouted at me.
"But it spices things up!" I replied.
"No, it doesn't! Hell no! It just frustrates me!" He shouted.
"Just max your fourth ability and buy some resistance; you'll win in the end." I quickly dismissed him.
The game had gone on for long enough; most of our towers by then were destroyed, and the enemy was just picking on us one by one. They weren't even looking to end the game; they just wanted to prolong our suffering.
"I can barely farm!" He complained as he was chased by the entire enemy team.
"I'll go gank you then," I replied.
"You'll die."
"We haven't even tried," I said.
"You suck!" he insulted me.
"Come on now, the game has just begun; we can't be so negative already. With a positive attitude we could win." I said to cheer him up.
"Botlane is 0/20 already." He stated.
"But look at their CS; they're not farming. If they keep chasing kills, eventually we'll get them," I said to boost the mood.
"They're still on average a couple of levels higher, if not more, depending on the lane." Leo stated in a defeated voice.
"I haven't died that many times; we can turn this around." I responded.
"Not with those retards running it down." he claimed.
It was cute seeing throwing a tantrum over the first game.
"We just need us two not to int anymore," I explained.
"As if."
"Just focus more on the minimap; when you see 2 or more people missing, recall."
…
"That Lian is being careless, has half HP, hasn't bought any lifesteal, and is pushing deep." I pointed out as the game progressed.
"I bet his allies are there." Leo quickly shut down the idea of possibly ganking.
"Nope, I saw the rest of his team clearing the jungle camps; they're on the other side of the map." I made that up on the spot to encourage him to take action.
"If I die, I swear…"
"I didn't say he is an easy pick, but this is the only chance you'll probably get all game," I said.
"Fine." He begrudgingly said as he walked up to the enemy champion out of position.