Around

"You know, when you asked me to play a game, I didn't think you meant literally." Marie admits, once again blasting my avatar to kingdom come. "I mean, I'm not complaining, but what's on your mind?"

At the minute, how much I suck at this game. "Do I need an excuse to spend time with my wonderful cousin? Of all families, you'd think we'd appreciate the idea of familial bonding." I joke, before getting bodied again.

"You're worried about Poppy, don't be, she's not made of glass." Marie intuits, not missing a beat. "She's probably just a bit awkward, she's probably never had anyone see her masturbate before." To my knowledge, that's true. Rosie got caught a bunch of times, me too, but never her.

Damn it, I'm supposed to not be worrying about it. "What's the deal with you and Rosie anyway? Wasn't so long ago you couldn't stand each other." I ask, deflecting the conversation.

The game pauses as Marie processes my question. "What do you mean? We had sex, so did you and I, so did you and her, this shouldn't be news." She points out, seemingly offended by the question.

"Yeah, and don't get me wrong, I enjoyed all of those events, but you and her were way more intense. Was it just hate-fucking or something?" I explain, trying not to imply the obvious.

"We don't hate each other, we talked a bit before we did it for the first time... Turns out we have a lot in common. Like DNA, I guess." Marie replies tentatively. "She's funny, and knowledgeable, it's fun to be around her." She continues, seeming to forget I'm even in the room.

She does realise we're talking about my sister, right? I'm aware of her qualities. She's also a massive stick in the mud a lot of the time, and she has a tendency to steal the last slice of pizza. Whoop-de-doo. Why are we... Wait. Hang on a minute.

"You like her!" I exclaim. Marie looks at me like I've just said the dumbest thing imaginable... Which I guess it is.

"No shit, she's my cousin slash fuck buddy. If I didn't like her, at least one of those things would be off the table." She responds condescendingly. Yeah, okay, badly worded, I need to elaborate.

"No, I mean, you really like her. You have a crush on Rosie." I deduce. It seems obvious that she'd be attracted to her, I mean, Rosie's stunning, but I didn't realise she had real emotional feelings for her.

Marie punches me on the arm. "What the fuck? That's stupid. I had sex with you, doesn't mean I have feelings for you, does it?" She argues. "Shit, I'll suck your dick right now if it'll put your mind at ease."

The lady doth protest too much.

"Relax, I'm not gonna tell her." I reassure her. "Though it is beautiful irony that you fell for Rosie the same way Rouge fell for Trish." I smirk, receiving another punch on the arm.

"There's no irony because I didn't fall for anyone." Marie growls. "She's good in bed, that's all."

I snort at her statement. "Isn't that literally what Rouge said when-" I begin to point out before I'm punched again.

"Look, just because you and Poppy have got some weird playhouse marriage going on, doesn't mean the rest of us are getting all lovey-dovey." She spits at me. Ooh, pushing it back on me? No chance.

"You're right, I want to date Poppy, treat her right, she's special to me. Okay, now you go." I counter. As if it's even a secret that I like Poppy at this point, but if it'll get Marie to admit it, I'll remove any ambiguity.

Marie seems surprised by my honesty. "Alright, fine! I wouldn't mind hanging out with Rosie a bit more. As friends, that's it. Just, you know, get to know each other." She sighs.

I mean, society tends to call that 'dating' but fuck it, close enough. I know it's weird, given it's my sister and my cousin, and doubly weird considering I'm fucking both of them, but I'm kinda rooting for them.

"She likes romantic films." I state. "Her and Mum used to watch them every Thursday night. Bonus points if it's in French." I advise. It's true, I got dragged into it a few times, it's not really my speed, but those two were always in tears.

"Cool, great, I don't speak French, but thanks for that." Marie snorts as we restart the game, and I return to being destroyed.

I just cannot seem to get the hang of this, I shouldn't have challenged the nerd on her home turf. "They have these things called subtitles, you really think any cinema in this country wouldn't have them for a foreign film?" I point out.

We play a few more rounds, but by the time her winning streak reaches double digits, I decide to throw in the towel. I return to my room, just in time to receive a message on my watch.

'I need to speak to you.'

What on Earth would Andi need to talk about after all this time?