Despite sleep making her eyelids droop, Ringo stays awake to watch Maguro beat a level. Requested by a tumblr anon who asked for "Staying up half the night to finish a game with them" from a 50 wordless ways to say i love you prompt list. i had doom on the brain, so that's the game being referenced.

Level Complete

"You know, you can fall asleep. I think you getting some shut eye is more important than this ," Maguro said, his fingers rapidly mashing the buttons on his controller.

Ringo shrugged, her head nestled into his shoulder. The wool blanket was pulled up to her chest, her legs tucked underneath as she played with a loose ringlet. She focused on the screen, watching Maguro's character shoot down hordes of bloodthirsty demons, his concentration seemingly unbreakable even when he was engaged in casual conversation.

The light from the television was all they needed. The bright red and steel gray hues illuminated Maguro's bedroom, which was naturally filled with all kinds of gaming phenomena. Rough guitar riffs meshed well with booming bass and rhythmic beatings of a snare drum. It fit the atmosphere of the massive craters, immense mountains, and seas running with blood. Hell was thrashing, and Maguro was blasting the satanic denizens down as they rushed at him, their claws dripping with gore as they bellowed at the camera.

She wondered if her arms wrapped around his forearm distracted him. One glance at his rapidly moving fingers disproved that query. Maguro's fingers moved like a pianist playing his greatest number. Each button press was precise. The rotations of the thumbstick were swift, the clicks countering the heavy grunge background music roaring from his speakers, his countenance entirely calm compared to his wisecracking character.

"Almost got it this time, " Maguro said as his character persevered over a path of skulls. "Just got the boss demon left. "

"Take your time. You got this in the bag," Ringo replied, grinning as a humongous bat-like monstrosity emerged from the ground, screeching at the top of its lungs and causing rocky debris and lava to shoot up from the cracked slabs.

But Ringo yawned as soon as the battle began. Her eyelids fluttered, her long lashes brushing against her glasses. Thin, smudgy streaks were created, causing her to look slightly to the side to watch Maguro play.

He hummed, the corners of his lips turning downwards. "You sure you're good? I can always finish this fight tomorrow. "

"No, no, no, not when you've come this far," she quickly urged, her pitch slightly raised. She threaded her fingers around the warm cotton material of his pajama top. She pressed her cheek to his forearm, pulling her arms back and resting them under the blanket. "I wanna watch you win."

Maguro chuckled, sharp teeth pressing on his lower lip. "Sure thing. Check out this 'killer' combo. "

He input a series of button presses. The buttons clacked louder than the organs and screams from the game. His character dodged and rolled, firing off bullets and lasers at the beast, who screeched and faltered in its attack. With a chuckle, he dug his finger into the right trigger three times and then, he tossed his controller in the air, his character firing a bazooka into the bat's gullet.

The bat screeched and flailed it's wings. It twitched in midair, the chalky black sky brightening behind it as light illuminated from its belly. Smoke escaped through its fanged mouth, but before it could utter its death throes, the bazooka ignited in its gullet, stomach acid, black blood, and silvery guts raining down from its combusted corpse.

"And boom goes the dynamite, " Maguro jeered, catching his controller in one hand.

"Ewww!" Ringo cried, wrinkling her nose and brow. She shook her head, the display more than shocking her as Maguro's character said a cheesy one liner. "That was the most visceral death so far!"

"Well, they don't call this game Downfall for nothing, Ringo! " Maguro snickered, looping his arm around her waist.

She nodded sagely. "I can thoroughly understand that now. I feel truly enlightened."

Another yawn escaped her when her lips parted to add more. Her eyelids began to pull together. Not even a gory, violent death could keep her awake, but she was happy to have stayed up for Maguro. He had been challenging that level for a few hours, lasting well into the night after his parents had gone to bed, and she had been encouraging him to beat it after several resets and frustrated grumbling about a spike of difficulty.

He saved his game and set the controller on the console. Turning it off, he returned to Ringo and slipped the blanket over her. She fell back instantly, her back colliding with the air mattress he had set up for her. Her curly hair splayed on the pillow, her eyes shutting as soon as her head met the cotton pillow sheet.

Taking off her glasses and setting them next to her head, Maguro chuckled and knelt by her side. "Thanks for all the help tonight, Ringo. That felt like I had my own personal cheerleader. "

"I am your girlfriend, and I will be your personal cheerleader always," she vowed, sounding more tired than enthusiastic.

Maguro smoothed her bangs back and kissed her forehead. "G'night, Ringo. "

"Nighty night, Maguro," she mumbled, and she rolled on her side, listening to him retreat to his nearby bed with a smile on her face.