Swing, swing, dodge.

 

Asa slowly clicked away at the controller in her hands as she sat cross legged on the couch. Normally she would have been in her and Sarah’s room, but Sarah was apparently practicing a new routine and needed the space cleared. So, now she was stuck out here, but at least no one else was in the living room either, as Kell was curled up in bed, and Dave was out back with his work friends.

 

Or, at least he was as she heard the door to the back slam shut, causing her to pull out her headphones. She wasn’t about to miss out on an opportunity to eavesdrop on the old man and his friends, not when it could mean juicy secrets. Instead though, she could hear him… chuckling? Asa shut her eyes in response, whispering to herself, “Of course,” as she turned back to her game, barely dodging out of the way of the first boss because she let herself get distracted.

 

Dave caught her off guard though by his thumping boots on the tile in front of the front door as he sipped a beer and looked down at her. “What are you up to?”

 

Asa glanced between him and her game, tapping her fingers on her laptop before shrugging. “Shaking some dust off of a game I like. Yourself?”

 

Dave grinned as he walked over to the couch, before sitting down himself next to her, reeking of sweat, musk, and dirt, making Asa choke on it as he looked at her screen. “I’m letting the others feel how much they screw up while I cool down, and-” he said, tapping her screen, “I would have thought Dark Souls would be too hard for you to enjoy. You seem like the type that likes to just win.”

 

“Hey! I can enjoy hard games too! It’s not like I’m some filthy…” Asa slowly turned her neck as she beat the Asylum Demon, staring at Dave with eyes the size of dinner plates, before whispering, “You know what Dark Souls is?”

 

Dave nodded as he leaned back, resting his arms on the top of the couch, bringing his bulging, glistening bicep right next to Asa’s head. She just needed to look back and she could- ‘Asa, focus! There are more important things to deal with now!’

 

Dave didn’t notice the internal screaming though, or acted like he didn’t as he explained. “I was convinced by the guys to try a way to purely relax, and one of the games they were enjoying at the time was Dark Souls, so I decided to give it a try. I probably never got as good as any of them, but I did beat it.”

 

Asa was silent for a few moments, before whispering, “Did… Did you sacrifice yourself, or did you let the flame die?”

 

“You can let the flame die?”

 

Asa was quiet for a few moments before smiling a little. “You don’t know anything of the lore, do you?”

 

Dave raised an eyebrow at her before sipping his beer and muttering something about the bells, which made Asa grin from ear to ear as she turned back to her game.

 

And when she then died on the stairs leading away from Firelink, Dave took the controller to show her how it was done, the two sitting only an inch apart as they began to play.

 

======+++++======

 

“Shouldn’t we tell him we’re done?”

 

“Are you kidding me? It would be a miracle to get to watch him play a game, let alone with a girl! When was the last time you saw him flirt with anything!?”

 

“I don’t know if this is what I would call flir-“

 

Asa threw up her hands, before hugging Dave as she screamed like a little girl. “We did it! The Kapra Demon is dead!”

 

Dave raised the controller over his head, roaring, “I am a highlander!”

 

The men, who were huddled behind the stairs, let their jaws drop as the two hugged each other, before Kell, who was sitting above them, turned to them and hushed them. After all, she was really enjoying her movie, and she wasn’t going to let them ruin it with their noise.