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Starfighter Ultimate was a tricky game only the best could play. With over 5 ranks of difficultly and holding one of the most impressive speedrun times for any game, it tested reaction timing, skill, speed, and intelligence. Starfighter needed two usable arms, lots of space, a clear mind and a heart that wasn't beating uncontrollably fast.
So Berdly wondered to himself, in the quiet evening silence that was warmly lit by the quaint Dreemur house, how he could ever beat this level with the most gorgeous person in the world asleep on his shoulder.
The kitchen smelled faintly of pie and the tap was dripping slowly. The intensity of their gaming binge had slowly drifted away and comfort settled into the two kids with only the echoes of their victory chants playing in their heads.
"We've almost got him!!! Keep perusing them Kris!!"
"Only you would say tha- heal me! Heal me quick!"
"MY POWER-UP LOADED!"
"Act!"
They both clacked madly on the controllers leaning towards the screen, dangerously close to falling off. Even more cellotape was holding Berdly's glasses onto his earless head than usual and Kris had pinned their hair back with their demon horn headband to be able to see. They both breathed heavily, shouting frantic nonsense getting closer and closer together until...
"YES!!!!" Berdly squawked in triumph.
"YES!!"
"WE DID IT!"
"QUICK, TAKE A SCREENSHOT!"
As the ending screen faded in, both of them flopped back in exhaustion.
"Finally..." Kris said, removing the headband for a second to put their hair back to normal. They ran their fingers through it and softly chuckled as the exhilaration started to drain out of them.
Berdly raised his fist to them for a well practiced Berdly Victory Fist Bump™ (he did have to note that he often had no second person to partake in it with).
"To victory!"
"To victory." Kris agreed, headbumping his fist in vigor. Right, raised by goats.
And now they were asleep against his shoulder without a care in the world. Would they have known it would make him so nervous? Is this all a scheme? Of course, flustering him and clouding his mind would drastically drop his IQ!!
To preserve his intelligence and definitely not to distract himself from how close their face was to his, Berdly reached slowly for the controller and flicked through the other games. They might wake up and see him being the Ultimate Gamer..
"Wow, Berdly.. you're so cool..." Yes, he could see it now. What hard games does Kris have? It would probably be all baby games for infants with low IQs like 300.
Let's see- Speedy the Hoghedge, Squelchtoon, Animal Passing.. Ah, Starfighter Ultimate! He didn't know much about the game, apart from that it required a lot of concentration. He was concentrated, who wouldn't be in this situation? He definitely didn't like Kris, with their crooked teeth and sun-kissed freckles and cherry red eyes...
Dammit, he died again. It wasn't easy when he was trying to not move his right arm as much as possible so he didn't wake them up, he was now a restricted gamer! After a few more failed attempts, he sighed and set down the controller. His eyes wandered around the room before inevitably settling on Kris.
They looked so.. peaceful like this. Their hair was in a mess on top of their feathers, sweater rumpled and dotted with chocolate stains and legs tucked in at the end of the sofa.
Berdly grinned as he remembered the story they told him over their many long Disword calls: they wouldn't wear any shoes or socks since their family never wore any, so to help them their mother knitted fluffy white socks. Kris then muted their mic and blew up his Minecrap house to smithereens. Lucky Berdly didn't start his villain arc by moving his half of their double bed..
They were quite alike, he thinks, trying so hard to fit in with people so different to them.
They were also alike in the way their bodies laid against one another now, beating souls and warm breath.
He was trapped. Cornered. Damn their evil plot...
But surprisingly he didn't want them to move, their hair was soft and messy, tickling his beak. What was this feeling?
As slow as he could and without thought, Berdly untaped his glasses and gently laid his head upon theirs. Apple. Just like he heard.
The room had a smell of cinnamon and butterscotch and rotting flowers, he noticed that instantly, but something was different about Kris. He didn't know, his intelligent mind was clouded with fatigue (and what he hadn't recognized yet to be love) but he saw something in them he hadn't before. Of lemongrass. Of birthdays. Of autumn.
It was all there, all the beauty of the world, all the stars in the galaxy, lying peacefully on his shoulder.
Berdly put his hand in theirs. Fear and regret instantly clouded his mind, but he didn't pull away.
What he didn't know was that while he was simmering in his own thoughts and awakenings, Kris was awake. That's right, they had this planned from the second the game ended! The devil truly does wear a horned headband.
It was definitely fun for them to listen to him die repeatedly in Starfighter, but the best part?
Berdly thinks out loud.
Subconscious whispers under his breath about their eyes, how he definitely had no feelings, how he remembered a sweet story from their childhood.... Kris' plan went excellently.
It was so hard for them to not grab his STUPID bird head and kiss him right on the beak, god.
If they were being honest, they were terrified of him not caring. Imagining him push their head off, laugh maybe at their pathetic attempt.. but here they both were, hand in hand.
Ok, time for the game to end.
Kris squeezed Berdly's hand.
"Damn, gamer boy." they whispered in a husky voice.
"Wh- wh- but you were asleep? Did I wake you?"
Kris looked up to meet his eyes, which were darting around behind thick glasses.
"Mm.. Sure, I was asleep."
"Oh. Sorry for waking you from your Mind Palace, Kris."
"Don't worry."
They both lay in silence for moment.
"I don't feel tired now, to be honest."
They sat up with a grunt, still holding Berdly's hand.
Only then, he noticed that they were still intertwined, and let out a squawk of embarrassment. Their fingers ran along his feathery hand as an assurance that it was ok. They worked hard for that, goddammit.
"So what do you want to do?" he asked hastily, trying to ignore the less-than-platonic connotations of that sentence.
"Hmm... what about... oh, I don't possibly know.." they pondered exaggeratedly (both of them could be incredibly annoying when they wanted),
"Starfighter Ultimate?" Kris said, then flashed him a smile.
A devilish, scheming, Kris-Dreemurr-Special smile.
"YOU WERE AWAKE THE WHOLE TIME?!" he cried, flapping his wings madly. All they could do was laugh and laugh while he spluttered outraged cries.
"I KNEW IT!! I KNEW IT WAS ALL A SCHEME!!!! IQ LOWERER!! HACKER!!!!! I BET YOU USE ONLINE GUIDES!!!!!!"
When Berdly had finally calmed down, he asked, panting from his exertions, "But... why?"
Oh my GOD, Kris thought. They considered shoving their head into the wall but it was their favourite wall. The family wall if you will. Didn't he get it by now?
"Because I like you, birdbrain." they muttered, focusing on the floor.
"Wait... really?"
"Berdly you have approximately ten seconds before I throw you through my favourite wall in my house."
"Okay, okay, it's just that... I think I can also reciprocate those feelings, Kris.."
They tried to act shocked, like they hadn't heard him liken them to the whole fucking galaxy just minutes ago. Someone needs to give them some kind of award for tonight's top tier acting.
"Oh..."
They stared at each other, still holding hands. The seconds, marked by the dripping of the tap, passed by a little too long. Awkward.
"So.. and I ask this again... what do you want to do?" Berdly inquired timidly.
"And I repeat again, Starfighter Ultimate. It's a good game, I was serious."
"But it's so hard! Not that I was bested by it obviously, I was just distracted."
"It's easier two player."
"Ah I see. Then Kris," he turned to them with eyes sparkling anime-style, "Will you make me the happiest gamer alive and be my player two?"
They snorted and grabbed the second controller.
"Always."
Starfighter Ultimate was a tricky game only the best could play. But maybe, under the stars and in the warm living room light, lying against each other making jokes and occasional synchronised side glances, this was how it was always meant to be played.