Playtime

“Fuck you, you fucking bitch. I hope you **** on a thousand fucking dicks, cunt sucking whore.”

“Tell me how you really feel,” Chloe said with an evil cackle.

“Mother fucker! Let me fucking move.”

“Muhahahaha!”

With a cry of frustration, I watched the controller soar through the air before smacking against the far wall. At the same time, a grumpy Alexis slumped back on the couch with her arms crossed. She looked pissed as her noise buzzed around her. Understandable. This was the third time in a row she’d lost to Chloe. As someone who wasn’t used to losing, it was a massive blow to her psyche—especially since Chloe had only started playing a week ago.

She caught me looking and narrowed her eyes. “Not a fucking word.”

“I didn’t say anything.”

“You were thinking it. That counts.”

“That you’re a sore loser?”

“This bitch keeps spamming the same fucking move over and over! It’s not fucking fair!”

Chloe’s smile was a picture of innocence. “You were the one who told me to find what works for me.”

“I meant character, not cheap ass mother fucking cheats.”

“If you broke my controller, you’re paying for another,” I said as I walked over to retrieve the abused equipment. I gave the joysticks a quick test. Seemed to still work. “Please refrain from throwing things.” She took the offered controller with a huff.

“You are banned from playing that character again,” she grumbled as she focused on the screen.

“Fiiine,” Chloe said with a dramatic sigh.

Sitting at the table, I sipped at my soda while watching their noise dance and weave over each other. It was a truly wonderful sight. The two were becoming fast friends. There were still moments when jealousy flared up, particularly when one got physical with me. Beyond that, they were relaxed around the other. Moments like these were becoming more common and I don’t think it was a coincidence Alexis seemed to pop in whenever Chloe was here. My initial impression was she was coming over to stop anything from happening between us, but after observing the two, she seemed to genuinely want to spend time with my girlfriend.

There was something else there that hung on the peripheral of my mind seeing them like this. Digging at that feeling, I stretched myself to the limit to brush the emotions that resided there. I recognized the jealousy easy enough and understood the cause. The laughter Chloe made. The moments where she fell into long fits of uncontrollable giggles. The way Chloe blossomed like a flower, her emotions exposed for the world to see. This was all a side of Chloe I rarely experienced. Yes, there were times I got her to laugh, but never like this. Right now, she was flourishing not because of what I was doing, but because she was feeding off Alexis’ emotional reactions. It was a feedback loop as both girls fed off the positive emotions of the other.

I gave them none of that and it… hurt? I think that was the proper reaction. The discomfort wasn’t physical pain, yet sharply panged my chest.

Head aching, I released my inner concentration and the thin whispers of emotions faded into the numbness that surrounded me along with any reactions to them.

It didn’t matter. The important thing was Chloe was happy. Whether she got this from me or someone else, all that was important was she had moments like these. Alexis too. Victoria was a good friend, but I think Alexis was forming a different emotional connection with Chloe. That didn’t diminish her other friendship and one wasn’t better than the other, only different. Perhaps it was because their relationship was based solely around friendship whereas Alexis’ relationship with Victoria had another layer of them being lovers.

“You know what we haven’t had in a while?” Both girls looked over at me. “A movie night.” Chloe’s eyes lit up as excitement overtook her noise. Alexis’ excitement was there but in a more subdued way. “I was thinking I’ll make dinner and we can all relax with a good movie. Invite Natalie and—”

“Ugh,” Alexis groaned, throwing her head back. “Please don’t let her pick the movie.” Chloe gave her a confused look. “My sister has terrible taste in movies.”

“How so?”

“All you need to know is he likes them,” she answered with an accusing point of her finger. Chloe seemed lost in the exchange. “They like bad movies. Bad movies. Like, they go out of their way to see the worst of the worst.”

“Sounds like fun!”

“Nooo!” Alexis said, throwing her arms around a surprised Chloe and hugging her tightly. “You’re too pure for that! I refuse to let them corrupt you. Resist! Resist!”

“They aren’t that bad,” I said as I crossed my arms.

“The last movie you two **** me to watch featured a dude in a rubber lizard suit chasing topless sorority girls around campus.” She looked thoughtful. “You know, on second thought…”

“You know what I’ve been wanting to see? Sarah’s Gift.”

“Oh my god, yes!” Alexis said with a gleeful clap. “Such a good movie. I was bawling at the end.”

“You’ve seen it?”

“Went with Victoria and Ezra when it was in the theater. Ah. They are two good friends of mine. I’ll have to introduce you to them later.”

Chloe shifted on the couch, pulling her legs to her chest as she faced Alexis. “I’d like that!”

“Victoria is going to love you…”