Coauthored by Acewing13, TheCountryWarrior
???? A.D., After interrogation Edith Dussault
Aboard Daheim One
Juan had spent little time outside his room in the hours after that recent embarrassment, though if he was being honest with himself, that wasn’t far off from his normal schedule. He had delved into a recent infatuation via video games, killing giant monsters with sheer badassery alone. He saw the appeal. So he spent his time here, not leaving his room, save to collect food and stretch. This worked just fine for him. He tried not to believe he wasn’t hiding from people after what happened. He wasn’t ashamed, he hadn’t done anything wrong. However, the lingering feeling of someone talking to him about his feelings scared him. He felt it was stupid, that he was acting childish, but he couldn’t shake it off.
Just as he was about to finish off one of the boss monsters when the first part of ‘Shave and a Haircut’ was knocked on his door.
Juan hadn't been expecting anyone, but he paused the game and finished the musical sting, as was proper. He opened the door, looking at Bee confusedly. “Oh Bee, hola. Can I help you?”
“Just was wondering how you were doin’,” she asked, with a smile. “Usually see you around the ship more during the day.”
Juan shrugged, chuckling. “Well, you know. Having a personal day, playing some games. Did you just come by to chat?”
“A little,” Bee said, looking lost in thought. “Needed to talk to you about some...wait.” She leaned to the side to look at what game Juan had been playing. “Is that BDE Sim!?” she asked, looking up at him with a grin on her face.
Juan looked back to the game and perked up a bit. “Oh you know it? I was just chilling really, nothing too grandiose.”
“Can I play it with you?” Beatrix asked, her grin mellowing to a playful smile. “Do you have another controller? If not, I can go dig up mine.”
Juan steps aside to let her in, moving to nab the second controller. “No need, mine second’s always around in case Jacob comes over. How far did you get? I’m stuck at the Rage Lord.”
“I didn’t get that far myself,” she said, sitting down on Juan’s bed, looking at the screen. “Got to Hell Baroness before I moved on. Played through the whole thing with a friend of mine though.”
He sits next to her, sighing. “Yeah, she was a bitch. Killed my second class hero, and I am still salty about it. A lot of these are easier with friends.”
“For sure, for sure,” Bee said, kicking off her flats and tucking her feet under her legs. “Especially since it's easier to play a DPS character if you got a tank to take the hits. What’s your character build?”
Juan seemed lost on the truly technical mumbo jumbo. He played video games, but mostly for casual fun. He felt underprepared. “Well I usually just go for a basic fighter, I’m just trying to enjoy the story. I am not as hardcore as I could be.”
“Huh, you got pretty far for not being hardcore,” she said, looking over at him with a nod. “You want to try and finish the fight by yourself first? I’ll need a few minutes to link to my character anyway.”
“I’m very stubborn.” Juan settled into the gamer stance, slightly hunched, controller in his hands. “I can sure try, I’ve been feeling the rhythm for a while. What do you play?”
“Well, I got my ‘jack of all trades’ character from my solo run,” Bee said, pulling her PD out of her pocket. “Then I got a spell caster character from the run I did with my friend. Either of them would average to your level, so it kinda depends on what you want me to do. You want more of a support character or someone up in the front taking hits with you?”
Juan thought about it, as he surfed the menus. “Let’s both go frontline, kick his ass together.”
“Works for me,” she said, nodding as she started loading her character up.
--------
“Yesssss,” Beatrix said a while later, hopping off the bed and doing an impromptu dance as the screen displayed, ‘MONSTER SLAIN’. “In your face, Rage Lord,” she said, laughing as she sat back down. “Oh, this game is so cathartic.”
Juan sported a wide victorious grin. “Oh I know right? Victory feels good! Best way to unwind after a day is with some cold hard victory.”
“Not sure I’d call flaying a demon to giblets cold,” she said with a chuckle. “But I do agree that this game is great. Never could do that by myself, so glad I could share that with ya.”
“Yeah, we should play more sometime. You have a headset for the online play? I don’t have a lot of,” he paused and looked like he realized something, his smile lessening. “I don’t have a lot of friends to play with, good to meet a fellow gamer.”
“Same, Bandit,” Beatrix said with a nod, before elbowing him in the side. “Speaking of friends, I was wondering what happened last night. I know, I know,” she continued, putting her hands behind her and leaning back, “It’s none of my business, it’s between the two of you, et cetera. I’m mostly just confused on why both of you were so hot and bothered about it if you didn’t do anything.”
Juan stared at her, and then at the ground, and then back to her with a shy smile. “Well the situation was a bit weird is all. It looked bad, but there’s nothing to worry about now! It’s not a big deal, so…” Juan looked to her with a suspicious smile. “Is that your ulterior motive?”
“That was the original reason for coming over, yes,” Bee admitted. “We should definitely play more, but I do really want to talk about your guy’s relationship. Again, I know I’m being a busybody,” she continued, sitting up straight and leaning towards Juan, “But you two would be soooo cute together.”
Juan chuckled, almost shyly. “It’s not gonna happen Nosy Nellie, it’s… far too complicated. It was just a helping hand for a teammate that needed it, and there’s nothing else to read into. I assume you’ve already interrogated Joan?”
Beatrix sighed. “Yeah, I did. She’s got a lotta issues and I’m pretty sure I don’t know half of it. Still,” she said, scooting over next to him, “She’s pretty into you. She’s, like, this close,” she added, separating her index finger and thumb by a millimeter, “to breaking through that, I can feel it.”
Juan tried to look neutral on the matter, but he could tell he was losing the conversation, averting his eyes to look down or just past her vision. “No, it was just a helpful thing, glad to do it. There’s no need to break through anything, I just prefer my team’s morale to be higher than low.”
“You don’t think she’d be happier if she had someone who could, you know,” she said, leaning against him, “satisfy all her needs?”
He sighed, and looked at her. “I thought you were gonna say ‘someone to keep her company’, not… go full sexual right away. I would agree that she needs friends, and I’m more than willing to do that, but…” He looked at the ceiling for a second before bringing his eyes back to her. “There’s nothing else coming, she’s not gonna… go any farther than what we did, and I’m not going to press it if she’s not looking for that.” He stood up, and started pacing the room. “Besides, there’s a whole host of other problems, like it might make things weird on a mission, or it might make us favor one option over another. I’ve been down this train of thought before, it’s not easy like civvie relationships. And that’s hard enough.”
“Ugh,” Bee said, throwing her head back in annoyance. “You two even have the same concerns. Do I need to tell you about ancient Greek gay guys who fucked together as good as they fought together as well?”
Juan shook his head as he paced. “No, I already know that story. Something about making us stronger. How would that help you? We have three team members.”
???? A.D., After interrogation Edith Dussault
Aboard Daheim One
Juan had spent little time outside his room in the hours after that recent embarrassment, though if he was being honest with himself, that wasn’t far off from his normal schedule. He had delved into a recent infatuation via video games, killing giant monsters with sheer badassery alone. He saw the appeal. So he spent his time here, not leaving his room, save to collect food and stretch. This worked just fine for him. He tried not to believe he wasn’t hiding from people after what happened. He wasn’t ashamed, he hadn’t done anything wrong. However, the lingering feeling of someone talking to him about his feelings scared him. He felt it was stupid, that he was acting childish, but he couldn’t shake it off.
Just as he was about to finish off one of the boss monsters when the first part of ‘Shave and a Haircut’ was knocked on his door.
Juan hadn't been expecting anyone, but he paused the game and finished the musical sting, as was proper. He opened the door, looking at Bee confusedly. “Oh Bee, hola. Can I help you?”
“Just was wondering how you were doin’,” she asked, with a smile. “Usually see you around the ship more during the day.”
Juan shrugged, chuckling. “Well, you know. Having a personal day, playing some games. Did you just come by to chat?”
“A little,” Bee said, looking lost in thought. “Needed to talk to you about some...wait.” She leaned to the side to look at what game Juan had been playing. “Is that BDE Sim!?” she asked, looking up at him with a grin on her face.
Juan looked back to the game and perked up a bit. “Oh you know it? I was just chilling really, nothing too grandiose.”
“Can I play it with you?” Beatrix asked, her grin mellowing to a playful smile. “Do you have another controller? If not, I can go dig up mine.”
Juan steps aside to let her in, moving to nab the second controller. “No need, mine second’s always around in case Jacob comes over. How far did you get? I’m stuck at the Rage Lord.”
“I didn’t get that far myself,” she said, sitting down on Juan’s bed, looking at the screen. “Got to Hell Baroness before I moved on. Played through the whole thing with a friend of mine though.”
He sits next to her, sighing. “Yeah, she was a bitch. Killed my second class hero, and I am still salty about it. A lot of these are easier with friends.”
“For sure, for sure,” Bee said, kicking off her flats and tucking her feet under her legs. “Especially since it's easier to play a DPS character if you got a tank to take the hits. What’s your character build?”
Juan seemed lost on the truly technical mumbo jumbo. He played video games, but mostly for casual fun. He felt underprepared. “Well I usually just go for a basic fighter, I’m just trying to enjoy the story. I am not as hardcore as I could be.”
“Huh, you got pretty far for not being hardcore,” she said, looking over at him with a nod. “You want to try and finish the fight by yourself first? I’ll need a few minutes to link to my character anyway.”
“I’m very stubborn.” Juan settled into the gamer stance, slightly hunched, controller in his hands. “I can sure try, I’ve been feeling the rhythm for a while. What do you play?”
“Well, I got my ‘jack of all trades’ character from my solo run,” Bee said, pulling her PD out of her pocket. “Then I got a spell caster character from the run I did with my friend. Either of them would average to your level, so it kinda depends on what you want me to do. You want more of a support character or someone up in the front taking hits with you?”
Juan thought about it, as he surfed the menus. “Let’s both go frontline, kick his ass together.”
“Works for me,” she said, nodding as she started loading her character up.
--------
“Yesssss,” Beatrix said a while later, hopping off the bed and doing an impromptu dance as the screen displayed, ‘MONSTER SLAIN’. “In your face, Rage Lord,” she said, laughing as she sat back down. “Oh, this game is so cathartic.”
Juan sported a wide victorious grin. “Oh I know right? Victory feels good! Best way to unwind after a day is with some cold hard victory.”
“Not sure I’d call flaying a demon to giblets cold,” she said with a chuckle. “But I do agree that this game is great. Never could do that by myself, so glad I could share that with ya.”
“Yeah, we should play more sometime. You have a headset for the online play? I don’t have a lot of,” he paused and looked like he realized something, his smile lessening. “I don’t have a lot of friends to play with, good to meet a fellow gamer.”
“Same, Bandit,” Beatrix said with a nod, before elbowing him in the side. “Speaking of friends, I was wondering what happened last night. I know, I know,” she continued, putting her hands behind her and leaning back, “It’s none of my business, it’s between the two of you, et cetera. I’m mostly just confused on why both of you were so hot and bothered about it if you didn’t do anything.”
Juan stared at her, and then at the ground, and then back to her with a shy smile. “Well the situation was a bit weird is all. It looked bad, but there’s nothing to worry about now! It’s not a big deal, so…” Juan looked to her with a suspicious smile. “Is that your ulterior motive?”
“That was the original reason for coming over, yes,” Bee admitted. “We should definitely play more, but I do really want to talk about your guy’s relationship. Again, I know I’m being a busybody,” she continued, sitting up straight and leaning towards Juan, “But you two would be soooo cute together.”
Juan chuckled, almost shyly. “It’s not gonna happen Nosy Nellie, it’s… far too complicated. It was just a helping hand for a teammate that needed it, and there’s nothing else to read into. I assume you’ve already interrogated Joan?”
Beatrix sighed. “Yeah, I did. She’s got a lotta issues and I’m pretty sure I don’t know half of it. Still,” she said, scooting over next to him, “She’s pretty into you. She’s, like, this close,” she added, separating her index finger and thumb by a millimeter, “to breaking through that, I can feel it.”
Juan tried to look neutral on the matter, but he could tell he was losing the conversation, averting his eyes to look down or just past her vision. “No, it was just a helpful thing, glad to do it. There’s no need to break through anything, I just prefer my team’s morale to be higher than low.”
“You don’t think she’d be happier if she had someone who could, you know,” she said, leaning against him, “satisfy all her needs?”
He sighed, and looked at her. “I thought you were gonna say ‘someone to keep her company’, not… go full sexual right away. I would agree that she needs friends, and I’m more than willing to do that, but…” He looked at the ceiling for a second before bringing his eyes back to her. “There’s nothing else coming, she’s not gonna… go any farther than what we did, and I’m not going to press it if she’s not looking for that.” He stood up, and started pacing the room. “Besides, there’s a whole host of other problems, like it might make things weird on a mission, or it might make us favor one option over another. I’ve been down this train of thought before, it’s not easy like civvie relationships. And that’s hard enough.”
“Ugh,” Bee said, throwing her head back in annoyance. “You two even have the same concerns. Do I need to tell you about ancient Greek gay guys who fucked together as good as they fought together as well?”
Juan shook his head as he paced. “No, I already know that story. Something about making us stronger. How would that help you? We have three team members.”