Work Text:
Aki doesn't use his phone much. Typically, he uses it for strictly work-related purposes, or for sending his siblings a quick text to let them know where he'll be that day. He doesn't even have any games. Meaning, when Denji walks into the main room on their day off to see Aki casually on his phone, he has to do a double take.
He leans over the back of the couch, peering over Aki's shoulder. It seems to be some sort of word game, which makes everything make sense. Aki's boring, so it's common to see him doing a crossword or Sudoku on the morning newspaper. Stupid old people games are like, his thing. He'd probably go to a Bingo night if there were any around.
"What's this one about?" Denji asks, more out of boredom than genuine curiosity.
Aki pulls up the instructions and turns his phone a bit, enough for Denji to see the screen clearly. "Guessing words," he hums. "I saw someone in the Public Safety building playing it. It looked interesting."
Denji squints at the screen. "I can't read it," he says. "Your brightness is too low."
Aki pulls his phone back. "You type in words and it tells you which letters are correct. The goal is to get it in six tries."
"Let me try," Denji says as he grabs for Aki's phone, but Aki holds it out of reach.
"Use your own phone."
With a huff, Denji pulls his phone out of his pocket. "What's it called?"
Power emerges from her room as Denji is on his third guess. She scoops her cat up in her arms, striding over to watch the two of them. "What's this?"
Aki explains it to her as Denji curses under his breath. Power nods as if she understands, shoving her phone in Aki's face so he can go to the site for her.
She tilts her head as she stares at the screen. Aki leans over to watch her, and after a moment, Denji does too.
BLOOD, she types in.
The letters all turn grey.
"I've won," Power says proudly.
Denji snorts. "No you didn't, dumbass. You got them all wrong."
She whips her head around to glare at him. "Liar! I'm never wrong!"
Aki shakes his head as she and Denji start to yell, knowing well that it's pointless trying to make them stop. He turns back to his own phone and types his fifth guess.
All the letters in ARGUE turn green.
Fitting.
FOOLISH MORTALS (& POWER)
Hayakawa Aki
⬛🟩⬛⬛🟨
🟨⬛🟩🟨⬛
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩
Sent 7:14 AM
POWER
WHAT IS THAT
Sent 10:29 AM
Hayakawa Aki
My Wordle score for today.
Sent 10:30 AM
Denji 🔥🥶💪
How do i do that
Sent 10:32 AM
Hayakawa Aki
Click “Share”.
Sent 10:32 AM
Denji 🔥🥶💪
⬛⬛🟨⬛⬛
⬛🟨⬛🟨⬛
⬛🟨⬛🟨⬛
🟨⬛🟨⬛🟨
⬛🟨🟨⬛⬛
🟩🟩🟨🟨🟩
Sent 10:33 AM
POWER
FOOL
YOU LOST
Sent 10:33 AM
Denji 🔥🥶💪
SHOW YOURS THEN 🖕
Sent 10:34 AM
POWER
⬛⬛⬛⬛⬛
⬛⬛⬛⬛⬛
⬛⬛⬛⬛⬛
⬛⬛⬛⬛⬛
⬛⬛⬛⬛⬛
⬛⬛⬛🟨⬛
Sent 10:35 AM
Denji 🔥🥶💪
LMAOOOOOOOOO
Sent 10:35 AM
Hayakawa Aki
Please come get breakfast before starting a fight.
Sent 10:35 AM
Angel peers at his phone (although it’s mostly duct tape, at this point), the blank Wordle page staring back at him.
“I try to guess the word?” he asks Aki, sitting beside him.
“The green squares means the letter’s in the right place,” Aki tells him. “The yellow ones means it’s in the word, but not in the right spot.”
Angel nods. He thinks for a moment before typing ANGEL, and then, when only the L turns yellow and the E green, tries DEVIL. The L and E flip to yellow. The V is green.
He glances over to Power’s cat, rubbing against his clothed ankles.
POWER, he tries.
O, E, and R are correct. Aki shifts slightly next to him.
Swallowing thickly, Angel types LOVER.
It’s all green.
Angel Devil
⬛⬛⬛⬛⬛
⬛⬛🟩🟩⬛
⬛⬛🟩🟩🟩
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩
Sent 12:41 PM
You’re improving.
Sent 12:42 PM
i guess
you’re helping
Sent 12:42 PM
I didn’t today.
Sent 12:42 PM
hm
thanks
Sent 12:43 PM
Denji groans, throwing his head back. “How come my word is never right the first time?”
Aki, who has gotten it right on the first try twice before, asks, “What’s your starting word?”
“Bitch.”
Power bursts into laughter. Aki sighs. “It’s a family-friendly game. That’s never going to be the word.”
Denji grumbles over Power’s cackles. She quiets down to watch him type in another word.
“Penis isn’t right, either,” Denji says after a moment.
Power nearly chokes with how hard she laughs at that.
Denji’s next guess is WHORE, and then, after finally accepting that vulgar words won’t work, CHAIN, TABLE, and LIGHT.
The word is CAULK.
“What the fuck,” Denji deadpans, glaring holes into the screen. “Family-friendly my ass.”
Even Aki has to try to repress a huff of amusement this time.
Denji and Power have an unspoken, yet obvious, contest. Aki dreads the day one of them wins. He regrets introducing them to Wordle so much.
“Topknot!” Power shouts to him, a triumphant grin on her face. “Tell him that I’ve won!”
Denji shouts too, which is entirely unnecessary, considering Aki is only in the kitchen. “Tell her that she’s wrong!”
Aki closes his eyes and tries to tune them out, letting them bicker between themselves as he makes his coffee. As soon as he sits down, both their gazes turn to him.
“I won,” Power says, her head held high. “I got it right before he did.”
Denji butts in. “But I got it right on the fourth try! She got it on the sixth! So I win!”
Aki sips his coffee wordlessly. He’s not going to involve himself in this.
(Besides, he got it on his third try, and it was before either of them woke up. He’s the real winner here.)
The two of them dissolve into another argument, and Aki slips outside unnoticed. He can still hear their muffled voices from inside, even after he’s closed the door. He smiles to himself and hides it behind his mug. He is fond of them, he supposes, despite vowing he wouldn’t get attached.
Inside, there’s the sound of something falling on the floor and shattering.
Actually, no, Aki takes everything back.