Work Text:
After a long and grueling round of fighting, Nene finally had her opponent in the corner. The lanky male character of her opponent was on the ground after being pummeled by her long combo, and he was now at the mercy of whatever okizeme she would decide to go for. Nene had decided his next wake up would be a painful one.
With a quick twist and a flick of her wrist along her fight stick, Nene’s character performed a tremendously large and slow overhead swing of his massive sword right as her opponent was waking up. It was a risky move, but if he got hit, he would surely die. Both of them had low health. Nene wanted to end this already.
But her faceless, online opponent had other plans. As the slow sword swing came crashing down where he was laying, the opponent immediately jumped up and swung his sword upward, dodging the incoming attack in the process. The strike hit Nene just as hard as it hit her character, losing her the round and the ranked match she was banking on for her rank promotion.
“Uggghhhhhhhh!” Nene slammed her hands against the edge of her fight stick, picked it up in a huff, and set it to the floor below her feet. She scowled at the empty roof above and turned to stare at Rui, who’d been sitting on the bed at her side.
Even though he didn’t understand a thing about fighting games, he’d been silently watching the entire time. Nene always made sure Rui knew she was happy to close her game every time he came over, but he usually insisted she continue. After they started dating, the silent watching only happened more often. Even though Nene had never opened up enough to say it openly, she enjoyed when he came over and watched.
Another low puff of frustrated air escaped Nene as she dropped her head into Rui’s lap without a word. On her side, she made herself comfortable, shifting her head against his rough jeans until she found just the right spot.
Without hesitating, Rui began to gently brush his hand against the messy mass of hair that’d fallen across his lap. “You almost had it there. Next time, for sure.”
Nene glanced up. “Rui, why do you always want to watch me play?”
“Why do you ask?” Rui said. He continued to soothingly caress Nene’s hair.
“Well, isn’t it boring?” Nene said. “You probably don’t even understand how these games work. Wouldn’t it be better for you if we did something else?” She looked away, her cheeks red.
“I will admit, the mechanics of this game are quite fascinating to piece together.” Rui’s free hand went to his chin. “It’s as though every different character within the game is a different kind of machine, each programmed to complete the same task of defeating their opponent in unique ways. It is not unlike watching a robotics competition for me.”
At this answer, Nene hid her face into Rui’s lap. “You’re just saying that,” she said, her voice slightly muffled between his legs.
Rui laughed. “Oh, you stab at my gentle soul, Nene. Why would I lie to you about this? I mean what I say with my whole heart.”
The sound of the post-match theme felt heavy in the air as Rui continued to rake his fingers through Nene’s hair, careful to not roughly snag any of the naturally bundled tangles. They both sat in silence for a moment as the strings of her opponent’s victory theme on the TV fell into a beautiful, triumphant crescendo.
As the music’s loop faded, Rui’s whisper broke through. “More importantly, I watch because you play this game, Nene. It matters to you. If something is important to you, it’s important to me.”
Nene’s feet began to bob up and down as she kicked the air around lightly. Joy betrayed her self-concious mind as she failed to suppress a girlish giggle. Whatever words she wanted to say found no form as she slowly turned to look up toward Rui. Instead, her lips pursed as she tried, unsuccessfully, to suppress her smile while her eyes locked with Rui’s.
With a casual smile of his own, Rui moved his hand along the same rhythmic stroke pattern he had been following, only to divert through Nene’s hair onto her skin with one smooth motion. The warmth of his hand felt cold against her hot cheeks as his hand moved from her cheek to her chin. He held there for a moment, and, as if he had done nothing out of ordinary, his hand lifted off her chin back to her hair.
Before Nene could fully process what had happened, her hands shot up in an attempt to cover the uncontrollable, yet very vulnerable expression forming on her face. Her legs curled inward at her side, as if she were trying to hide away from a crowd that was not there. Uncomfortable as she appeared, she didn’t move her head from the safe place on Rui’s lap.
“C-can we just watch a movie or something... Jeez...” Nene said between heavy breathes, her face red as can be.
“Of course, Nene,” Rui answered. He did not break his rhythm. “Did you have anything specific in mind?”
For a few seconds, only the loop of the game’s music filled the silence. Eventually, with a crack of her voice, Nene broke the silence. “...you pick. I always pick.”
Rui laughed, his hand finally ceasing it’s assault on Nene’s senses. “You’re going to need to get off my lap, then.”
Nene didn’t move. Instead, her arm sluggishly lifted up into a lazy point. “The remote’s over there,” she mumbled. Her face buried back into Rui’s lap, leaving him to figure out what would be interesting to watch.
A happy puff of air left Rui’s nose as he smiled. Without question, he reached over to grab the remote and flipped the channel, finally silencing the victorious hum of Nene’s defeat.