A/N: ...NaNoWriMo over...need fic... Lol, fanfic brain coming back online after novel mode. Just a lil fun with Pooch and Jay to get me started...
"Nonononononono! I'm not listening!"
Pooch crossed his arms over his chest and leaned back against the wall, watching with quiet patience as Jensen paced back and forth in front of him, fingers stuck in his ears, shouting so that nothing else could be heard above his tantrum. After another near two minutes of that passed by, the tech finally either burned out on his childish behavior, realized he wasn't getting to Pooch at all, or just assumed he'd won the disagreement. Whatever the reason for the kid's sudden silence, Pooch pounced on the moment, jumping forward to grab Jensen's arms so he couldn't plant them back against his ears.
"Jensen. You have to. It's for your own good, man," Pooch told him calmly.
"No, I don't. I don't have to do anything. It's a free country, one in which I'm technically dead, so that means I doubly don't have to do anything I don't want to do, so I'm not doing it."
Jensen jerked his arms out of Pooch's grasp and plunked himself down heavily in his computer chair. He stared at the blank screen as if debating whether to turn it on or not, but the bitter look on his face was a clear demonstration that he was too upset to be able to focus on anything other than what he had just been told. Pooch sighed and came around to sit against the edge of the desk, keeping himself at least within Jake's line of vision.
"Jay-"
"No."
"Don't make me get Clay up here." The statement was worded as more of a plea than an actual threat.
Jensen bit his lip at that. "No, I don't want him to know. Look, can't I just-"
"No deals, Jensen. You either do this all the way, or I'm getting the guys in on this. I think handling it right now would be better while it's just you and me, don't you?"
Heaving a frustrated sigh of indecision, Jensen pulled off his glasses and scrubbed his hands through his hair. "Is it really that bad?" he finally asked.
Pooch nodded. "Look at yourself, Jay, look what you're doing right now. If it wasn't 'that bad' would this be so hard? Besides, if I noticed how bad it was getting, I'm sure the others did, too. They just haven't said anything about it yet. You know they will eventually, though, especially if things keep getting worse."
Dropping his head down, Jake gave the subtlest of defeated nods before reaching a shaky hand up to the monitor.
"Need me to do it?" Pooch asked helpfully.
"No, I got it. Just…could you just stand there in case…in case…"
Pooch stood up and moved behind him, placing a supportive hand on his shoulder. "I got your back, buddy."
Sucking in a deep breath, Jensen flipped the monitor back on and was faced with a blast of moving color. His eyes roved around the screen for a few minutes, and with a sad smile, he reached up and pointed to one of the images. "That's Rufus. He was my very first," then added softly, "Bye, Rufus. You were the best pimp-daddy bull of them all."
Pooch gave Jensen's shoulder a supportive squeeze. "He won't feel a thing, Jay."
Ignoring the statement, Jake pointed to another animation. "I always wanted a dog named Jasper."
"Maybe one day we can get you a real pup, huh? When things go back to normal?" Pooch offered.
Jensen laughed as he moved on. "Thunder. I can't even ride a real horse."
"We can change that," Pooch said. "Cougs said he knows a rancher, remember? The dude'll probably teach us to cowboy up if you want."
The pointing hand stalled as it traced across the virtual world. Jake laughed again and shook his head. "I even got a cat. I don't even like cats. Butterball, though, I could trust him."
"That's 'cause Butterball's just pixels and code, man, and you can't really love that."
"Says you," Jensen mumbled. He reached for the mouse and purely upon instinct began to direct his avatar around.
"Jensen," Pooch alerted him, "You don't have to do that, anymore. It's not gonna matter if you harvest those crops."
Jake pulled his hand away from the mouse as if it had shocked him. "Sorry, sorry, it's….habit…" He turned and looked up over his shoulder. "I really did go too far this time, didn't I?"
"Yeah, you did, but it's okay. You're not the first to get addicted. Don't feel bad about it."
Nodding again, this time with more surety, Jensen took in a steady breath and directed the mouse to a different part of the screen. After one more long hesitation, he selected the option to end the game. Permanently.
"I'm proud of you, man," Pooch said with a smile and a gentle pat on the tech's back. "Come on, I'll go buy you a beer."
"Right," Jensen said, with both a touch of melancholy and relief coloring his words. He stood up and stretched, then smiled at Pooch. "So…now that I don't have Farmville anymore, what're you guys gonna give me to keep me quiet during down time?"
Pooch stopped in the doorway and grimaced. He hadn't thought of that particular side effect to convincing Jensen to quit his game. "Uh…I'll convince Clay to let you get your Playstation?"
"Okay," Jensen said with a wide smile as he bounced past Pooch down the hall.
Pooch watched the near skip in Jensen's step for a few seconds before it occurred to him that maybe, just maybe, he had been played. He shook his head. It would be safer for everyone if he just chose not to believe it...
The End!