Page 18 of Now Streaming

And she couldn’t fucking wait.

She turned to Hayden to find him watching her, taking in her love of the con that was surely radiating through her with a strange look on his face. After a moment, he shook his head, like shaking off cobwebs, and glanced around.

“Well?” he asked. “Where to first?”

Min grinned at the question, figuring it was obvious. “You know where.”

She slipped into the crowd, her eyes following the various superheroes, the dinosaurs, all the clever ways that people thought of to dress themselves, and she loved it. She could feel Hayden following behind her, and she was unable to stop herself from throwing him a grin. He stayed as quiet and unruffled as ever, but he was also taking in the sights, in his own way.

They made their way to the video gaming section, the one with various demos set up to try new games or to try your hand at one recently released. Min scanned the choices, torn between what to tackle first, when Hayden firmly grabbed her hand and pulled her with him into a line. She glanced at the display with a laugh.

“This one?”

It was a two-dimensional platform game, about to be released the following month and therefore a hot ticket item at Kickoff. From the design of the characters and the cute graphics, it was aimed more for relaxed players than the usual high-intensity shooters Min and Hayden would stream. Min was a fan of all kinds of games, but she had never known DeathsHead to play something so… adorable.

His eyes twinkled at her. “Speed run.”

She felt the zing of excitement race through her. When she had first started her streaming career, it had been with speed runs, playing the various well-known games she had grown up with at a speed that some would say was too fast to enjoy. But the challenge of the clock made her blood pump, and she was already wiggling her fingers in anticipation.

“Youdo speed runs?” She had never seen him post content like that, and she had watched a number of his videos. DeathsHead had always stuck to the more violent games, the survival horror or first-person shooters.

“You don’t know everything about me, babe.”

“I don’t know anything about you.”

His eyes flared at that, and he looked away from her.

“You know more than most.”

The line moved slowly. The booth limited play to twenty minutes, so it meant any movement was few and far between. Min did her best to watch the people currently playing to get a lay of the levels, knowing Hayden was doing the same. Of course, with his height well over six foot, he had an easier time seeing over people, and shook his head at her more than once when Min would hop a little to see a screen.

When it was their turn, they took the stations next to each other, and she could feel the familiar thrill of the challenge thrumming through her. DeathsHead was her rival, and Min knew he would be able to push her to the edge of her temper within minutes of the game starting. He had a gift.

But he was also her favorite person to play against.

She gripped the remote, the timer for the demo counting down for the start. When it hit she didn’t hesitate, powering through the tutorial explanation to the beginning of the first level before turning to look at Hayden… who was already looking at her, waiting. He quirked an eyebrow, and she nodded, counting in her head.One… two… three…

They started simultaneously, fingers flying over buttons, jumping over platforms and enemies in a race to get what she knew from watching the other players to be a cupcake at the end of the level. She raced through, easily jumping and dodging and solving puzzles on her way, until she mistimed and her character fell backward, stuck between an enemy and a moving flame platform. Fuck.

She raced ahead, timing it right, hearing Hayden’s soft curse as he probably fell into the same trap she did. She continued racing forward, pushing her little avatar until finally she was able to grab the damn cupcake. She held up her controller, showing she had finished, and she turned to Hayden. His character was just then grabbing his cupcake.

She had won.

“Yesssss!” She jumped up from the seat, clapping her hands, elated. Beating DeathsHead at a game was like a drug, and boy, was she addicted. One of the guys running the booth approached her, handing her a T-shirt with a wide smile as he glanced at her screen.

“Great time, there. Probably one of our quickest.”

She beamed, high-fiving him with enthusiasm before turning to Hayden, who was already shaking his head.

“You’re ridiculous,” he told her, his tone dry.

“Don’t be a sore loser.”

The booth attendant handed Hayden his T-shirt before turning to pass out shirts to the other players as they finished the level.

Min hugged her T-shirt to her like it was the greatest trophy she had ever won. As much as she was basking, Hayden was already scanning for their next game.

“Best two out of three?”

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