Chapter Text
Three more worlds until Gregg’s clocked the game.
It’s been an uphill battle, sweaty palms and cheese dust on his fingers not making it easy on him. And honestly, he could’ve used a drink of water right about a half-hour ago. But it’s not as if he can leave now: there are masked bad-guy blobs to flame and charge into, and crystallised dragon elders to save.
Not long now before he becomes a saviour.
He’s about to head through the portal to start the third-last world when the front door slams open. He flinches, and the TV cabinet rattles.
“Hey! Watch it, dude.” No time to waste, he doesn’t bother looking up when he hears Rhett’s heavy sigh. He hears it all too often anyway.
“Sorry, man.”
Gregg’s little purple dragon lands in the new world, and he’s already faced with a hulking armoured… some kind of creature. He’s gotta be careful, what with a clean sweep to maintain, having found one-hundred percent so far of the gems he needs to collect.
But he can hear Rhett moving around behind him, hears him duck into his room before coming out again to heave another loaded sigh. Despite the hours Gregg’s invested in this extended rescue mission, it isn’t hard to hear those clown shoes dragging across the carpet. Not even a well-executed charge through a line of metal chests is enough to distract him from Rhett’s racket. It’s about all Gregg can do not to throw a balled-up Cheeto packet at him.
“All right.” He hits pause – a gracious move on his part – and swings around to face the not-so-quietly dejected. “What’s goin’ on?”
“Nothing. It’s all good,” Rhett mumbles down at his feet, hovering behind the couch. His distracted pacing says otherwise.
“Jeez, man, just tell me so I can –”
“Link’s out on a date.”
Okay. “Yeah?”
“We were meant to hang out tonight. There’s a showing of that, uh, remember that movie I told you about the other day?”
“No, but keep goin’.”
“Yeah, well, I got us tickets. He must’ve forgot.”
Gregg un-pauses as Rhett slumps down next to him, and there’s a good few seconds of blissful quiet. He takes the opportunity to do some exploring, ends up spotting a ‘hidden’ island with some loot he can already see. He watches his dragon leap and glide over the gap before sticking the landing. Like an absolute pro.
“I just, we spoke about it,” Rhett starts up again, and Gregg’s knuckles turn just a little whiter around the controller. “He was so excited to go see it.”
“Who’s he out with?”
“Lucy,” Rhett all but sneers, not without making his opinion on the girl abundantly clear.
“The one from stats class? Good for him. She’s the first girl he’s been sweet on since what’s-her-name.”
“Sarah John.”
“Yeah, her. Why do y’all always call her Sarah John?”
Rhett doesn’t give him an answer, which is fine. He figures the guy’s gotten lost in his own head again – nothing new there – stewing in the mayhem of his own riled-up thoughts. Gregg doesn’t question it anymore. It’s far easier to just let it be.
“What’d ya think they’re doin’?” But he can hardly ‘let it be’ if Rhett himself isn’t willing. “Can’t be better than that movie.”
“Uh, it can definitely and most likely is better than the movie… if you get me.”
“Gosh, man!” And Rhett’s suddenly got his head in his hands. “He’s gonna bring her back here, ain’t he? Do you think he’s gonna bring her back here?”
Despite himself, Gregg smirks. “Yeah, man. He’d be a fool not to. Got the Gregg Seal of Approval right there.”
Rhett straightens up at that. “You’re a dick.”
“Ain’t wrong.” The level’s ramping up now, the last few sections of enemies just a bit trickier than those suckers at the beginning. Must mean the boss is coming up. “Why’d you give a shit though?”
“Huh? I don’t.”
Gregg hits pause again, and the controller goes down without a second thought. “Are you fuckin’ kidding me, man?”
“What?”
“You’re sittin’ here blabbin’ at me about your friend when you could be out doin’ whatever wherever else.” Wherever else far, way far away from here. At least far enough that a guy can play his game in some peace and quiet. “That ain’t cool, man.”
“Yeah.” Rhett’s brows fly upward, jaw clenching in his silence. “Yeah, you’re right.”
“Dang straight,” Gregg mutters. He gets his hands back on the controller, eyes on the screen, just as Rhett’s getting back up again.
“Guess I got some thinking to do.” He hears the pop in Rhett’s spine as he stretches out, taking his goddamn time. Then finally, thankfully, he starts to leave. But not before, “Hey, thanks, man.”
“Sure.”
And with that, the conversation’s over. Short and sweet and over. Which is good – because Gregg needs to refocus, get back in the zone. So he rolls his neck, loosens his shoulders, cracks his knuckles a little before getting back into it.
That boss ain’t gonna beat itself.