player one → tenny

one.

0:00
home
— johnny

it's midnight in america when johnny rolls out of his bed, sick of being unable to sleep. insomnia has been getting to him badly these past couple of months, and more often than not he's found himself sitting at his computer, playing overwatch with people around the world in order to try and relieve the stress from his exams.

it doesn't work, but he still does it anyway.

tonight is no different. once he's stretched a little bit, he pads softly across his bedroom and sits down at his desk, turning on his computer and putting his headset on. he's greeted by the familiar glow of overwatch's title screen when he logs in, the theme song ringing through his headset and making him relax as it always does. overwatch is like a nice little escape from reality for him, as cheesy as it sounds. it makes him feel at least a little better.

he knocks down the volume a few times so he can just about hear anything that may be outside his door in case he has to dive into bed and pretend he's asleep, and then he clicks play and leans back while he waits to be connected to a game. he opens a couple of loot boxes as he waits, and he's just about to view a legendary prize when the game finally connects. "fucking--" he starts to say, but cuts himself off as soon as he remembers that his parents are asleep literally in the next room. instead, he presses his lips together and decides to get on with the game.

it's not a bad team that he's been matched with, honestly. he's playing as pharah, his main, and the rest of the team consists of a mercy, a reaper, a bastion, a reinhardt, and finally a hanzo. could be better, but it could definitely be worse.

they play well, and pharah's ultimate builds up in no time. being unable to use his headset at such a late hour, johnny types a little note into the chat.

team chat
[jsuh]: ult's ready

nobody replies, but that's fine. he knows they've all seen it and the fact that nobody is telling him when to use his ultimate move makes johnny assume that the rest of the team trust him to know when to use it. he does, and he flies over to the point (which is flooded by players from the other team) and positions himself in the air above it, tapping 'q' when he thinks he's in a good enough spot.

"justice rains fr— ugh!"

he gets shot down by a widowmaker.

game chat
[tendollar]: lmao

johnny can't help narrowing his eyes, but he carries on playing as he was doing before. his ultimate builds up again, and he finds a different spot this time, hitting 'q' again once he's sure it's perfect.

"justice rains from ab— ugh!!"

"fucking widowmaker!" he hisses through his teeth, getting a little frustrated now. he shouldn't be, because this is supposed to be helping him relax, but man this widowmaker is getting on his nerves. he shifts to the edge of his seat, focusing all his attention on the game and the game alone, and as soon as he respawns he goes to go find who killed him.

he manages to sneak up on the widowmaker from above (though they're already pretty high up) and he waits until he hears a voice line before shooting at her.

"no one escapes my— ugh!"

watching the widowmaker's body fly off the ledge is the singular most satisfying thing johnny has ever seen in his life.

game chat
[jsuh]: lmao
[tendollar]: i see hw it is

johnny doesn't even care that his team are gonna get mad at him now, because he's focusing all his attention on this fucking widowmaker. they have enough tanks anyway, all preoccupied with taking the point with mercy flitting around between them, occasionally sparing a glance to johnny's pharah as he patrols the high-up places in search of the sniper.

at one point, nearing the end of the game, johnny can't find the widowmaker. he assumes he's made the player rage-quit, and smirks accordingly, leaning back in his chair once again as he begins to re-focus on the game again. he goes to help out his team at the point, his ultimate charged again and ready to go. he hits 'q' and waits for the inevitable chaos, and then—

"justice r— ugh!"

game chat
[jsuh]: i swEAR TO GOD WHERE WERE YOU
[tendollar]: thatd b tellin
[jsuh]: oh my god
[tendollar]: <3

johnny's about to type something more into the chat when the defeat screen pops up, and moves on to show the play of the game. and of course it's that fucking widowmaker, the first time they shot johnny down during his ult. seeing how the widowmaker plays though, johnny can see that they're good. almost too good.

game chat
[wooji]: gg
[thedarkness]: gg
[urmyangel]: gg everyone!!
[tendollar]: yeah gg
[tendollar]: esp pharah
[jsuh]: fuck off man
[tendollar]: im serious

well, at least he's nice about it. johnny smiles, but he's not about to play another game with that team, so he quits and goes to find another.

he's matched with a team in no time, picking pharah again because he plays best as pharah. this team has a good make-up too, and he smiles, checking the team chat as it pops up.

team chat
[yakiyuta]: sup
[jefferyj]: ayyyy
[winwinsituation]: hello ! :)
[yakiyuta]: wtf so cute
[hyuckduck]: hey guys
[jaeman]: :D
[tendollar]: hi hi

"you're fucking joking." what were the chances that he was matched with the same guy again, but in a completely different team?

team chat
[jsuh]: hi
[tendollar]: the fuck
[jsuh]: same
[winwinsituation]: ? ? ?
[tendollar]: how'd we get matched again
[tendollar]: lmao
[jsuh]: idk but it's weird

the chat goes silent for a moment - or, it does between johnny and this tendollar kid until he finally replies, and his reply makes johnny think for a while.

team chat
[tendollar]: lmao. maybe it's fate.