Work Text:
It was almost 2 am.
Charles was in his office, still working. The room was cold, and only lit by the painfully bright laptop screen he was staring at. He'd been working for hours now, not allowing himself to take a break. This had to be done, and if he wanted to get some sleep tonight it had to be done quickly.
If I hurry up I can go to sleep in an hour, he promised himself, despite knowing he'd lie awake untill early in the morning.
Sometimes he wondered if he was doing the right thing with his life, at moments like this, when his whole body ached and jolts of pain split his brain, at moments when his room was cold and empty and his bed far away. Sometimes he wondered if he should do something different, but only the thought of change made him panic slightly.
He only noticed his concentration had slipped away when he heard knocking on the door and realized he hadn't done anything for who knows how long.
''Charles! Ams yous alives in there?''
He recognized Tokis voice immedeately.
''Yes Toki, but I'm busy right now, so please leave me alone''
''You ams always busies'', Toki complained and knocked the door again.
''We need you fer sumthing, dood''
So Pickles was there too.
''Can we come in?''
The door was bursted open before he even had the chance to answer. The first one to walk in was Nathan.
''Whoa man, its dark in here. Pretty brutal'', he growled. Just after him, Toki entered.
''Come play tables tennis with us!'', he yelled. ''We needs equals teams but we ams with five!''
''I'm sorry, but I am really busy'', Charles said, and gestured to his laptop screen.
''C'mon dood'', Picles added ''Whatever yer doin, it can wait.''
''Actually, ah, it can not'', Charles said, but at the same time Toki started whining: ''pleasepleasepleeeaase...''
A strong feeling of dread washed over him. He'd have to somehow get the guys to leave his room, lock the door, put on headphones to get some silence, try to finish his work even though his energy had seriously run out.
Or he could just...
''Allright, allright, I'm coming''
The living room felt like an entirely different world. Flashing lights, bright colours, warm and humid air, the smell of alcohol. Slightly overwhelmed, he almost saw the ping pong paddle that Murderface threw at him too late.
Only just before it hit him in the face, he managed to catch it, and the guys cheered.
''I told ya he's fast!'', Pickles yelled, and shoved an open beer bottle in Charles' other hand. At the same time, Swisgaar grabbed his wrist and dragged him to the side of the pingpong table.
''Me, Charles and Murderface against the rest of you dildos'', he exclaimed.
''Allright'', Pickles said, and grinned mischievously while he grabbed a little whte ball. ''then let's get started!''
Charles took a hestitant sip of beer before putting the bottle down and concentrating on the game. Pickles counted down from three to one, and then it began.
Later, he couldn't remember how he managed to hit the ball in the chaos that then formed. They were crammed together, and playing by rules he didn't even try to comprehend. Everything went way too fast to think anyway. There was nothing more than a white flash and the feeling of the paddle in his hand, a kind of focus he'd missed for ages.
''Toki ams out!'', Swisgaar yelled victoriously at some point in the game. Toki left the table quickly, and they continued playing.
''Murderface's out!''
''Nathan ams out!''
''Swisgaar's out!''
It all happened so fast he couldn't follow what happened exactly, but at once he was alone, only Pickles left on the other side.
''Ya ready to get destroyed?'', he sneered. ''ya see, i'm pretty good at hitting things really fast.''
Somehow those words eradicated every bit of tiredness from his body, and he felt his heart race as he gripped his paddle tighter.
''We'll see about that'', he said, and looked Pickles in the eye.
Pickles smirked, and served.
There were no thoughts left in Charles' brain. The only thing his body did was react to what Pickles did, at a speed he didn't even know he was capable of. Everytime the ball raced towards him, he hit it before even noticing. They went faster and faster and faster, but then...
The dry tok of the plastic ball hitting the floor.
''Pickle ams out!'', Swisgaar yelled, and threw his fists in the air.
''Well done, Charles, ye'r fast'', Pickles said, and walked towards Charles, with his arm extended, as if he were to shake Charles' hand.
Dazed by his victory and not suspecting anything, Charles grabbed Pickles hand.
Next thing he knew, he was pulled forward and shoved into the pool.
''Fast, huh, but still not faster than me!'', Pickles laughed, just before getting pushed into the pool himself by Murderface.
It didn't take long before everyone was in the water, wrestling and splashing at eachother.
Under different circumstances, Charles would've worried about his expensive suit getting wet, or perhaps about the work waiting for him in his office.
But now he could only think of how nice the warm water felt and how great it was to win a silly game in the middle of the night, and for the first time in ages, he felt entirely relaxed.