Logging in, I slip on my Bluetooth headset just as I hit send, spotting him already in a hidden call on the server and joining in. “I’m here,” I say, stretching back in my chair, but there’s no answer. “Hurry up and get to the mic, idiot.” In the distance I hear running, followed by his voice. “Hey man, can’t a guy get a snack? Especially since you took forever to get on,” he says through a mouthful of food.

“Yeah, yeah, yeah, did you warm up?” I drag my mouse along the screen as my game finally loads. “Ye—” he starts, still chewing. “Finish swallowing and then talk to me,” I mutter, shaking my head as the game pops open and I load into practice mode. “When you’re done snacking, we can run a couple rounds and then hop into ranked.” His icon flips from away to online, and I shoot him an invite.

“You see that Cookieslayer person who joined the server?” Jackson asks as he drops into my lobby.

“Yeah, I saw it earlier. Who is that? I thought we were keeping this server to just a couple people.” I buy my items while walking toward the fighting arena.

As I spot his character in the distance lining up a snipe, I run towards cover BAM where i stood was a crater from his attack “shes this chick and bro when i tell you she might just be able to smoke you” he says while still firing off shots

I reach the rock and the firing stops, but above me I catch the sound of him moving towards me. “Skywalking toward me, huh?” I mutter, summoning my spear and hurling it upward. He dodges, twisting his body midair, but that’s exactly what I wanted. I blink to the weapon, grab hold, and slash at him while gravity pulls us both back down. He falls alongside me, dashing in quick circles, trying to throw me off.

We land and he says. “It’d be fun if your character wasn’t a tank—maybe you could do it too,” he says, dashing back. “But she’s better than me, huh? Did she beat you?” I let the spear slither out to create space; he draws his dual pistols and opens up—BANG! BANG! BANG!—bullets peppering the air.

I dodge side to side, twirling the spear in a circle to deflect rounds as he closes in; the gunfire stops and he slips behind me, so I spin the spear around and catch him mid-dodge. He misjudged the distance; the spear slams into him and knocks him down. I fling the spear again as he scrambles. “No, but I watched her clips—she left some in one of the channels. She’s a healer main but can play Assault like me,” he calls, and the spear sticks in the ground near him.

I blink to it, yank it free, and slash—his shield shatters like glass with no passive left to save him. “Focus,” I tell him as he empties his mags and reloads; shots spatter against my shield—I don’t dodge, let them eat it down—and close the gap. My blade cuts through; his character dies in a flash. “Ahhh, fuck, man — you’re lucky you distracted me with talking,” he groans into the mic as I wait for him to respawn.

I say, “Told you I was gonna slam you, didn’t I?” and glance at my other monitor to pull up the clips he mentioned—what I see actually shocks me; you don’t see many girls this good. “She’s a healer main, but she plays Assault better than you,” I jab, and he snaps back, offended: “If me and her fought I’d 10–10 her.”

I tab back into the game and spot him not far off. “Just like how I do you, huh?” I taunt as I hurl my spear; he shoots it midair and sends it off course. “Shut up and get put in the dirt,” He barks back, and we charge at each other again.

***

“That’s enough, we’re both warmed up,” I say, leaving practice mode. I notice someone typing in general chat: “Cookieslayer is asking to play with someone. Should we join her?” I ask Jackson over the mic. He sighs. “I still wanted to fight, I only got one round.”

“Yeah, I don’t think that’s what I asked,” I reply. “Let’s join her—I want to see how well she plays outside of those clips.” I text back in chat: I’ll run a few with you. She responds: Great. Voice call? I type back, Sure, join VC 1.

I see Cookieslayer join the call. “Let’s join her, Jackson,” I say, disconnecting and hopping into her channel. A quiet, raspy voice greets me. “Hey, Mtdrew.” “Sup, Cookieslayer,” I respond. Silence settles for a moment, then the sound of Jackson joining brings life back into the call.

“My duo cheating on me and seeking out others—how unforgivable,” he says in his annoyingly dramatic tone.