Postgrad Partners

Neutronium's Newcomer

Even in the well-lit living room of their apartment in the middle of the afternoon, Tori still found herself tucking her face into Jade's side like when they watched The Scissoring on their last night in LA.

With every loud zombie wail blaring on their TV, Tori cringed into Jade, who only smiled as she expertly pulled the trigger of her PlayStation controller three times in a row, her character on screen executing the enemy like it was second nature.

Peeking out again as the game transitioned to a cinematic, Tori pouted, "Since when did video games look this realistic and...uncanny?!" The last word emphasized as the TV displayed a very detailed floor littered with undead corpses.

"Sounds like you've only been playing cartoony kids games all your life, honey," Jade smirked as she set her controller down to stretch her fingers, "Meanwhile, I've been eating up horror games like this since I was little. How do you think Beck got his character down so easily in that movie?" She pointed smugly to herself before picking up the controller again.

Tori relaxed back on the couch, sitting properly as she saw the character Leon Kennedy in all his high-definition detail; from his blood-stained police uniform to his hair that somehow managed to stay unkempt despite all that carnage. "Well, I can clearly see why you enjoy this game," Tori scoffed at each gratuitous camera angle. "You get to stare at this...wonder boy...the whole time."

Jade scoffed back, "Oh...yeah. Totally." She blinked in anticipation, trying not to let Tori catch on to the real reason she enjoyed playing this game again and again, but as soon as the femme fatale Ada Wong appeared on screen, Jade's face almost turned as crimson as the character's dress. Her sudden blush was so visible, even Tori would have caught it...if she wasn't blushing as well.

"Damn..." Tori's thought was accidentally verbalized, making Jade's head jerk toward her. Quickly realizing the slip, Tori picked up her empty glass and jumped out of her seat, "D-Damn! I'm all out of lemonade! I'mgonnagetsomemore!YouwantsomeJade?!"

As Jade stared at her girlfriend spastically moving toward the kitchen, she chuckled and paused the game to get up as well, taking her empty glass with her.

The couple each took a turn pouring the cold drink into their respective glasses and stood next to each other over the counter to gather themselves. "Cooled down enough yet, you dork?" Jade teased, bumping her shoulder against Tori's.

Tori composed herself and smiled back, taking a sip from her glass. "Y-yeah. I was surprised, at first, when you got that PlayStation from our shopping day. I never really pegged you as a gamer..."

Jade blinked, "Uhh...you know that logo on my bag there is from a game, right? The bag I've literally had since high school?" She nodded toward her Gears of War bag slung over one of the dining room chairs.

"I-I thought that was just a generic skull design, like you see all the time at Hot Topic!" Tori bit her lip and looked away to hide her blush; a blush that Jade easily caught and laughed to.

"Chill out, Tori! I'm just glad there's still a lot we don't know about each other, even after all this time," Jade smiled and wrapped her free arm around Tori's shoulders, "That gives us a lot to learn during our time together."

The thought filled Tori was joy, though she quickly realized something and asked, "So have you told your mom that you're staying? That this isn't just a summer trip?"

Jade set her glass down and gripped the counter tightly, "Not yet. I just haven't found the right way to tell her yet. We've been so busy since...you know? I only just called the Weston Theater today to tell them I'd be coming by tomorrow for the interview."