PLEASE READ THIS!!! IT WILL HELP YOU UNDERSTAND THE STORY!!!: This is another ficlet inspired by my video-gamey-ness. On Halo 3, you can change the armor style of your character and one of the most coveted armor styles is called Recon and you have to go through this whole long process before you can get it. One of the prerequisites is that you complete the "VidMaster Challenges".The hardest one is called "Annual Challenge". You have to defeat the final level (one of the hardest) on the highest difficulty, with the "Iron Skull" turned on (if someone dies, you have to go back to the nearest checkpoint and start over) and when you get to the last part of the level, the ground starts falling apart underneath you and you have to race to the end. You have to do that part in a hover-craft called a Ghost, which isn't all that fast unless you hold down the booster button, and that makes maneuvering almost impossible. You have to have a team of four people complete this on online campaign mode, and yes, it really is hard. I got the Vidmaster: Annual Challenge completed last night. I feel accomplished. :D
DISCLAIMER: I do not own Halo, the weapons, characters, weapons, vehicles, levels or anything like that. If I did, Master Chief's voice would probably be done by Vin Diesel and he would have taken his damn helmet off by now. But, Halo belongs to Bungie so I don't have a say in any of that. XD I also don't own The Covenant or the characters. If I did, the whole movie would be random boy makeouts and at least one of the boys wearing girl clothes. :D
totally manic: I'm glad that you loved it. :D
julliette: Yes, cute is good.
StoicCrying: Tucker's my favorite too. Well, Tucker and Tex. RVB is actually why my nickname is Tex. My brother is convinced I'm a half-woman, half-shark that would kill anyone for money. -_-'
raven 2547: ... Sorry to get you yelled at? lol. Next time she does that, tie her to a chair and force her to listen to the whole thing! lol
beginningxofxthexend: I try to keep the boys in character as much as possible, unless the whole point is to make them OOC, lol. And my friends and I do sit around and wonder about what we would do if zombies were to attack. We have several lists of different action plans based on where we are when we find out about the outbreak and how much time we have. We are very nerdy peoples. :D And I use the "I Love You" defense quite a lot actually, lol.
forgetMEalways: Cool, sweet, and awesomely chatty. :D I had a request to do another chat-style fic a long time ago, but I can't remember what I had for dinner last night, much less an idea for a one shot. That's why I gotta write 'em as soon as I get 'em! XD
Tyler threw his head back and groaned in frustration. Reid walked through the door in the basement with a sigh. He deposited a brown paper bag full of Chinese food on the small coffee table in front of the white couch where Tyler was sitting and walked back up the stairs. Tyler picked up his XBox controller and lazily aimed his weapon at a teammate before firing.
"That's how you wanna play? It. Is. On." Chase growled through the XBox Live chat headset.
They proceeded to blow eachother up a few times before Reid returned with the energy drinks.
"How long have we even been at this?" Reid asked as he sat down and picked up a controller.
"According to the timer, 145 minutes." Tyler rubbed his eyes and opened a carton of the Chinese food. He picked at the Lo Mein with his chopsticks for a few minutes before actually eating anything.
"Okay, so what's going on?" Caleb asked.
No one said anything for a long moment.
"Hello? Chase, is this thing still turned on?" Caleb yelled.
"We're here. We're just a little surprised." Reid said slowly.
"Surprised?" Caleb asked.
"Yeah. After the ass-kicking you took last time, you swore off Halo." Pogue laughed.
"I'm just hanging out by the 360 until Chase gets back." Caleb pouted.
"Where did he go?" Tyler asked as he blew Pogue up again.
"Pizza place. They said the pizza'd be done by now." Caleb murmured.
Reid turned his character to face Caleb and he laughed as he watched Caleb's character spin in circles and look up and down and experimentally fire a weapon, throw a few grenades and jump. Reid jumped over Caleb and landed behind him before hitting him in the back of the head with an assault rifle.
"I thought we were on the same team!" Caleb protested.
"We are. But this is break time and we're sitting right at a check point. But if you wanna run ahead, guns blazing, and fight those guys on your own, be my guest. I'm gonna sit right here, eat my Chinese food, and keep track of how many times we have to restart because you suck." Reid shrugged.
"Asshole." Caleb muttered.
Tyler started laughing as he looked over at Reid. He raised an eyebrow as the blond removed his headset and moved closer.
"What?" Tyler asked, just low enough so the mic wouldn't pick it up.
Reid just smirked at Tyler. Tyler almost asked him again when Reid grabbed the base of his neck and pulled him close, nipping at the skin on his neck. For a moment, Tyler forgot about the mic being on and he moaned.
"What the fuck was that?" Caleb demanded.
Reid smirked against Tyler's neck. If Caleb would actually play Halo with them on Live, then he'd know that during down-time, like in a pre- or post-game lobby or while waiting on the game to load or whatever, that there would be other activities going on.
Tyler scrambled for the wire leading up to the headset and muted the mic so there would be no more embarrassing moments. What he didn't notice was that Reid turned the mic back on. The next moan went through the mic as well. And the following one. And the next one which sounded exactly like Reid's name.
"Christ! Take it back! Take the fucking headset back!" Caleb whimpered.
Tyler's eyes widened and he pushed Reid away.
"You prick!" Tyler yelled.
"Everyone has been subjected to it except Caleb." Reid shrugged, pulling his own headset back on and moving his character a bit before grabbing a carton of Chinese food.
"From the way Caleb's gone fetal and is clawing at his ears, I take it Reid initiated Caleb into the wonders of Halo Live." Chase sighed.
"Kiss him and make him feel better." Reid shrugged.
"Did I miss anything?" Pogue asked.
"What was the last thing you heard?" Tyler asked.
"Caleb called Reid an asshole. Then I went to the kitchen and started heating up a Lean Cuisine."
"Pogo, stop wasting your money on that shit. Your girlish figure is fine! Stop stressing over carbs and calories." Reid sighed.
"I'm gonna fucking kill you." Pogue said after a long pause.
"You'd have to get through Tyler first. And you know that Tyler is Caleb's favorite. And whenever Caleb fights, whether he needs it or not, Chase is gonna fight with him. So you're gonna have to fight everyone and me." Reid beamed.
"Prick." Pogue muttered.
Reid laughed and there were several minutes of silence while everyone focused on eating.
"How much longer do you think this is gonna take?" Pogue asked.
"Why? Is Kate nagging you again?" Chase asked.
"Pogo, take out the trash. Poguey-poo, feed the fish. Baby, could you paint my nails?" Reid teased in a high-pitched voice.
Chase and Tyler laughed.
"Fuck off." Pogue growled.
"Not too much longer. We just gotta get the driving portion beat. Which wouldn't be so hard if Chase would stop falling off the damn level." Tyler growled.
"It's not my fault." Chase pouted.
"How is it not your fault?" Reid demanded.
"Caleb doesn't fully understand the complexities of Live social interactions and therefore has no grasp on the necessity of aquiring Recon Armor." Chase huffed.
"He's trying to convince you to stop playing and go fuck him silly, isn't he?" Reid said after a pause.
"Of course." Chase grinned.
"At least I have the decency to wait until the mission's been completed." Tyler said with a degree of mock haughtiness.
"Says the kid that makes it a point to moan into the mic while we're in the lobby." Pogue said.
"Talk to Reid about it. He's the one that turns the mic back on." Tyler huffed.
It was a few more minutes of good-natured bickering before they were done eating and playing the level through again. They were at minute marker of 195 when they finally beat the level and were awarded with the notification that they had completed the Vidmaster: Annual Challenge.
"Three hours and fifteen minutes of my life right there." Tyler smiled as he looked at the achievement icon.
"You know what this means, don't you?" Reid asked.
"What?" Tyler asked, turning his attention to the blond.
"It means that we have to celebrate this glorious achievement."
Tyler raised an eyebrow and Reid turned off the XBox and then the TV, ignoring Chase's demand that they play a few rounds in the Lone Wolves (1) section before everyone left. Reid picked Tyler up off the couch, smirking to himself as Tyler instinctively wrapped his legs around his lover's waist. Reid kissed Tyler as he walked them to the bedroom and threw the brunette on the bed.
"We're going to celebrate with sex?" Tyler asked with a sigh.
"Yeah, why?" Reid asked.
"We always celebrate with the same old sex."
Reid grinned at Tyler.
"Remember when I went out shopping and refused to tell you what I bought?" Reid asked with the same ferral grin.
"Yeah?"
Reid held up the contents of the bag.
"Is that chocolate body paint?" Tyler asked.
"Uh huh."
"And is that a military outfit costume?"
"Sure is."
"And champaigne?"
"Mmhmm."
"And strawberries?"
"Yeah."
"This is gonna be one hell of a celebration." Tyler grinned.
"Of course it is. We have 3.25 hours of hard work to make up for." Reid grinned.
(1) Lone Wolves is a ranked match system. Every man for himself. :D