Chapter Text
Pew, pew, pew!
Jason's hands practically slammed the joysticks around as he played Combat. The difficulty was totally rigged on his left hand though, since he didnt have anyone else to play with. He had practically begged his parents for his Atari VCS hardly 2 years ago, and they didnt even bother to play with him! His mother was off for another therapy session with Dr Mendel, and he only had a guess of where his father could be. Despite all that, he might as well pick up the game every now and then. After playing for about an hour already, he was already becoming better at it! It was like there was real competition now that both sides werent slamming into the same wall.
Pew, p-p-pew, pew, pew, pe-!
And after another very productive 2 minutes and 16 seconds his right hand won again. It was totally unfair how it kept winning, his left hand was getting so much better! Jason put the joysticks down and huffed, laying down on the carpet. Home was always so boring now. Honestly he'd prefer to be at school where he would die from hearing stupid people than die of boredom.
At least at school he would find someone to play with him.
None of the kids liked playing with him anyway. They said his chess sucked and his game was outdated. Angelina Dellibovi said he was a grandpa just because he was good at chess! Whatever. He didnt want to play with those kids anyway.
Jason just decided to keep playing by himself.
After around 3 more rounds, he heard the front door of his house open up. There was a distinct laughter coming from his father and.. some other guy? "Jason, I have someone I'd like you to meet!" Jason hopped up, he didnt care about the game anymore anyway, his hands were cramping. His feet pattered against the wood flooring until he got close to the front door and saw him. There was probably nothing wrong with the guy, but the way he was looking at his father... kinda gross not gonna lie.
He was.. tall. And tan. And kinda lean. His face wasnt nearly as scruffy as his fathers. It was clean shaven, and he actually looked.. kinda nice.
"Hey bud, nice to meet you im Whizzer!" Whizzer gave Jason a pat on the back. It wasnt aggressive or there too long though.. it just felt nice. Jason only smiled back because his father quickly interupted again.
"Whizzer is my.. friend. Hes going to be staying for dinner tonight."
There it was. The pause. The hesitation before putting a label on their relationship. His smile dropped but the pair hardly seemed to notice as they walked to the living room. Jason stayed behind and just looked into the mirror they had near the shoe rack. He knew it! He knew they were- oh god he knew he shouldve listened to his mother when she told him Marvin kissed guys! He shouldve ran and told the whole world to stop it! If Marvin's gay what does that make him?? Jason wasnt gay, he couldnt be gay!
The worst part is, Whizzer wasnt even a bad guy. He seemed really nice! Why was he the one to make his father gay?!
Jason's moping was put to a stop not long after when Whizzer called him to show him his game. It was like he was dragging his sadness with every step of his feet. When he finally got to the living room, he saw him holding up one of the joysticks, the other in his hand. "Cmon play a round with me! I'll let you win." And his smile was back on his face.
"I can show you how to play if you want."
"Oh I know how, Ive been to a couple of arcades myself."
"Really?!"
"Yeah really. Say, whats your name again kid?"
"Jason."
"I like that name, Jason."
Pew, pew, p-pew, pew, pew!
"This isnt fair!" Jason huffed and put down his joystick as Whizzer won. Again. He said he would let him win! Whizzer just laughed and wrapped his arm around him.
"Thats just how life is sometimes. You win and you lose, and in this case you lose alot." Whizzer ruffled his hair and Jason tried to push him off. "But the important part is, you dont give up. Got it?" He grumbled in response. What a rigged game. He felt a pang of disappointment when Whizzer decided to stop playing and favor talking to his father instead. Sometimes he felt like everyone favored Marvin. Whizzer, the neighbors, his mother even though lately she's been favoring Dr Mendel, and probably totally alot of other people. It didnt exactly help as Jason just got the pleasure of hearing them laugh and talk and flirt. Everyone favored Marvin and the least he could do was favor his mother back. He couldnt even do that.
He put down his joystick and got up, trying to walk back to his room. Not before Whizzer gave him one last jab, "I better see you working on that game later!"
He didnt wanna work on the game anymore. He had chess, a real game he could play really by himself. He didnt need a partner for that. The other stupid game just proved he could only have fun if he had another person, which he didnt. So Jason just went to his room and started playing chess. But as he moved the pieces, a few more shifted in his head. I guess Whizzer didnt mean it in a bad way. I guess his father just wanted to hang out with his 'friend'.
Jason still liked Whizzer a little bit more.