- Yearrug! What are you doing?
- (( Hey, Sue, are you there?))
- (( Oh! She's got her busy marker on. =\ ))
- (( ( ◞･౪･) ))
- (( At least you're on, Amaya! ))
- (( Do you think they're getting along? ))
- (( (￣ω￣;) ))
- (( It's kind of a shame Abbey stopped playing. There's only a few of us now. :\ ))
- (( (,,꒪꒫꒪,,) ))
- (( I was thinking we could go to the Bar and pick up that quest we were looking at a week ago, where we have to move to Asroth and — ))
It was what he'd been looking for; Mike used to talk to him about this game that he and a few others used to play online. He always expected Sue to be playing such a nerdy thing. He knew Amaya would be playing it too, she and Sue were friends after all. He wasn't half expecting Abbey to be interested in it. On the other hand, he had absolutely no idea Stacy was into it too, Mike begged him not to tell anyone else, he complied, but only because Mike had asked.
This is utterly boring, he told himself as he read through the conversation. He had hoped he could catch them in on the act, but perhaps Sue was the one who hosts the events. Paulo was here for the good stuff, where was it? He started looking around clicking the various buttons on screen, eventually after a few clicks around the interface he eventually found the entire log of what he guessed was something recent of at least one of their adventures from maybe last year. The deeper he read, the deeper his grin grew. What is this? No, really, what is this nerd shit? He asked himself again.
'I really didn't think you would stoop that low.' It came from behind him, out of nowhere and smooth like as if she had been expecting it. He recognised the voice immediately and jumped as she said it. His finger struck the keyboard bringing the web browser back to the foreground. He was too wrapped up in the logs he didn't even hear the bathroom door close.
He turned around in his chair. 'S…Sue what took you?' He asked. He tried to act as if he had been doing work this while time. A feign attempt if any; she saw everything. She reached over him and slammed the laptop shut. He only managed a mere split-second before he would have to add his fingers to the growing casualty list.
'I was behind you the entire time! You've got some serious nerve going through my stuff especially after inviting you to my own home!' She was cross, rightfully so. She tore the laptop away from him and placed it on the shelf behind her before turning to him arms folded, 'Maybe you should leave.'
'I was only trying to shut it off, I swear. How can I look things up on the web when that fucking thing is going off in the corner of the screen?' God, what an awful argument. If he couldn't convince himself what was the likelihood she was convinced? Paulo remained adamant, 'Really, Sue! I'm not interested in your nerd shit.'
Sue was still visibly aggravated at the breach of her rules, but she closely considered the possibility of what he told her, she studied him for a few seconds before she let her arms drop. She picked her laptop off the counter again and returned to her seat. 'If I catch you doing anything like that again…. ', she started, but she needn't finish it. It was blunt enough even the dullest person would be able to perceive it as a threat. Paulo would receive it correctly in turn, he wouldn't doubt if he stepped on her toes the wrong way again he'd find his ass own on the front lawn.
But Paulo could help but study her back, that was not exactly the response he was expecting. What he had expected was her to get upset and try to lecture him. Better yet, kicking him out was a get-out-of-jail-free card at this point. Sure; sacrifice one associate, but he had renewed confidence to work on his own at this point. God, if only he could make up his mind at this point about whether he felt he should be here himself. Was she really finished with him? No, she wasn't.
'I'll give you the benefit of the doubt this time.' It was said stern and cool as she opened her workbook back open to the page before. 'It's far too complicated for someone like you anyway.' If there was anything that the two had in common, it was that they somehow knew how to get under each other's skin. It was sad that they both treated each other this way, but Paulo wouldn't think that; he'd take the bait.
'That wasn't what I said. What's so complex about a video game?' He asked back.
She didn't pay him too much mind, her retort was quick in a way that was condescending; 'It's much too deep for you.'
He scoffed, 'Oh please, if it's anything as deep as your play—' Her fist came crashing down on the table before he could finish. It caught him by surprise and he almost fell backwards off the chair. If there was anything that really got to Sue, it was making fun of the play she did years ago. She reacted less and less each time, but this time felt different, maybe she never got over it after all, she might have just got better at hiding it.
'We adventure; we travel, we find monsters, we kill said monsters, we fulfil quests, we get rewarded, we buy better equipment. And we play as if we were our characters.' Sue growled.
'You play as if you were them?' He was still set aback from her slamming her fist on the table, but found himself drawing a smile at the idea. 'Playing a game is one thing but making shit up as you go?! That's the nerdiest—'
'It's called role-play;' she interjected, 'we play and talk to each other as if we were our characters. It's nothing different from when you used to play make-believe games with Daisy and David years ago!'
Paulo felt himself flush, 'T…That's—.'
Sue cut him off again before he could finish, 'The same thing.'
Paulo didn't quite understand, how in the hell did she know about that all of that? He never saw her around the places he used to play as a kid. It was embarrassing thinking about it. Did David tell her? He swallowed. 'That's kid stuff though...'
'It's acting! The context doesn't matter!' Her ears flattened, 'When did that kind of stuff stop being fun to you?' She asked.
Paulo was taken aback, he didn't immediately respond. He thought back and recounted the days he and David used to play make believe they were characters from the TV shows they used to watch as kids. When did they stop? It must have been sometime around when they entered middle-school? He didn't really have an answer, did he?
Wait, why is he even thinking about this? Sue attempting to make a point of something about him? Perish the thought.
'When I grew up, I'm not interested in that stuff anymore!' He replied.
'When you grew up?' The idea would be funny if it weren't so sad, 'Because trying to get laid by every female who walks past is the grown-up thing people do.'
'Shut the fuck up!' He snapped. 'I haven't dated since Rachel. God, even then it wasn't even dating!'
'That's surprising, then what are you doing with yourself then?' Sue probed.
'I work more now! Why in the hell are you that interested in my social-life anyway? How about you try getting one of your own first before you try to judge mine?'
It was a lie for the most part, he wasn't working extra hours; his father wouldn't let him especially after he saw Paulo's report card for the previous year. His father was lenient with him with a few things years before, that stopped, the line had to be drawn somewhere. Paulo spent those extra hours that he used to use on the phone to girls at home doing… well, nothing. He thought he could dedicate that time to his to study, but as obvious enough as that was, it wasn't going so well. His free time either went to staring blankly from his bed to the ceiling, or to old comic books from years ago he keeps finding all over his room. David's comics, to be precise, ones he had liberated from a trade years ago. David never gave him the Stereo he lent him back. Nor did David ever ask for those comics again, but Paulo kept them in the event he did.
He hoped Sue didn't know better about his circumstances. Did she ever go to Burgertron? He couldn't recall seeing her there himself. He didn't suppose she ate junk food. The more he thought about it, the more he seemed to realise he didn't know much about her as he thought he did, but she knew things about him he never told anyone else before, it terrified him, where did she find this out? Did David tell her? He didn't know how to feel about it, it was… His conscience knew; an invasion of his privacy, much like what he just did to her.
They were both at each other's throats at this point. He was still waiting for another nosey response, it wouldn't come, Sue decided to back off, she played it like the mature one. They just weren't making any progress to make this worthwhile. This was too much of a distraction. Any indication of an interest Paulo had in the game was purely for something to poke fun at, she wouldn't expect anything more.
'You know what? Forget it. It's good that you're dedicating more time to…whatever it is you do with yourself.' She told him. She flicked open her exercise book. 'I'm moving onto chapter two, are you at that stage?'
Paulo needed a second to recollect his thoughts, 'I'm…yeah, I've just got to finish off this last question.' He repeated the questions' workings the exact same way as he remembered from before.
They finished at quarter to five, Sue didn't want Paulo around before her parents got home. That was fine with him. He knew at this stage she was using the laptop extensively to try and teach him. He would end up calling her out about it near the end of their study when they cooled down from the previous fight. It was hard for her to try to hide it. He didn't feel afraid at that stage to let her know he needed to read the basics again and not just crash into the more advanced stuff like it was expected of him. It meant they spent more time in the text book before working on the homework. Sue had already caught up in her work by the end. But it made him wonder if she ever really hosted a study group on her own before.
He just wanted to go home at this stage. He was exhausted, but happy that he had made some progress in getting him started. He could keep going tomorrow. He didn't know by the end of it whether Sue was satisfied with their progress as a group, but the progress he had made was enough of an inspiration that he might be able to make a start for real on his own.
He packed his text book into his bag and walked to the front of the door. Sue followed him up until he reached the door frame.
'Hey, Sue, I…' he struggled for a second. He wasn't quite sure what to say to show his appreciation. 'Thanks.'
She folded her arms, 'Really? Just thanks?' She asked, she had spent a little over four hours with him, she deserved a bit more than that.
He was taken aback at the reception. 'C'mon I just…' He stopped and reformed his words. 'I mean, Thanks… for being there, you know?' He didn't quite know what he meant there himself. But it would be enough for her, he hoped.
He felt unnerved as she studied him closer, but she drew half a smile at him. 'You're welcome. I'm sorry we couldn't go on for longer. If you told me you were that far back in your studies earlier I would have listened, really. Hopefully the cheat-sheet I gave you finds some use. If you're up for it, maybe we can consider organise another session sometime if you're still having trouble.'
He returned the smile as sincerely as he could and closed the door behind himself. Another lecture session, you mean? He thought to himself. He walked home.
Paulo's father would arrive home rather late in the evening, it just came with the territory of the work he did. As late as it was when Paulo walked through the front door, there was still some time left over for him to be able to go through the notes Sue gave him before he would need to start on dinner. Paulo had always cooked for his father when he learned how to, it was only way of being able to give something back to him, it was the only way he knew how to.
His attention returned to the notes that Sue had provided him. With this and the work he accomplished today, he could catch up to the rest of the class in Math by the end of the week. He'd accomplish this, he needed to.
His alarm clock beeped at him, now he really had to get started on dinner. He made his way out of his room and through the hallway, then he caught his reflection in the bathroom mirror. He stopped when he saw it, where did the smile come from? He hadn't been able to find himself smiling since…well, the previous year.
It was a nice feeling.
He observed his reflection again, then thought back to when both he and Susan fought at her place. He didn't know what compelled him to do what he did, but it made his stomach turn. He had no idea why he even wanted to read the game's chat logs, he knew he didn't really have an interest in her roleplay game. It was an invasion of her privacy, he had no right to do it.
He had to admit though, it looked like they were having fun together. He wouldn't know what that felt like, it was a distant memory.
Sue had offered another study session, but was she just being nice? He couldn't imagine her being serious about it. He'd made a mess of things.
He was certain that would be the last time they would study together.
Sue retreated from the game to the real world and scanned over the browser history logs once the game night wound down. She did so only because one of her friends had suggested the outrageous idea that Paulo would do something as nefarious as plant something on her computer without her knowledge. Sue talked down the possibility, Paulo wasn't smart enough to do such a thing, but she couldn't be too careful.
It wasn't being mean, was it? She wondered to herself as she scrolled through the list back to earlier in the day, after all she had just finished giving him some credit. She reassured herself she was just making sure she wasn't wrong herself, it lessened the risk after all. If there was anything she learned from Lucy, she could be surprised.
Nothing seemed too out of place, he just searched for things that were more deliberate than the things she was searching for back during the study session. She didn't know how she could use that in the future. He didn't do too badly himself when they studied. If anything, they just didn't work well together, but she expected this.
As she got up from her seat, she stubbed her toe on one of the legs of the table. She caught herself in the middle of a swear, her mother did too, and her name echoed through the house. How embarrassing, this was not who she was.
Surely the feeling inside her from the day before was sated. Things would be back to normal tomorrow.