I hadn't planned to get a drink, but with both of them looking at me, waiting for me to say something, it felt like I should. "Uhm,” I mumbled, casting around for the name of a cocktail, one I’d actually enjoy. “Do you do mai tais?"
"I can," the bartender said, offering me a smile before turning to get to work on the drinks.
"So…" I started, casting around for something to say. Jason and I always had the luxury of a screen between us, something that the longer I spent time with the alpha, the more I realizedwas actually a feature, not a bug. "Did you have fun at the playtest?"
"It was fine," Jason said, leaning backwards against the bar with his elbows resting against the flat top. "The maps are still a bit rough, but once they get the kinks worked out, I think they'll be a hit."
I hummed, wondering what he meant by ‘rough’, but not particularly interested in being mansplained to about frames per second or whatever his problem was.
Okay, I probably should have cared, given this was exactly the sort of player feedback that I'd need once my own studio was up and running and in the beta testing stage. But god damn, Jason wassonot my target audience.
"It's going to be hard to top the last season, adding in those haunted dolls made the game basically perfect. The mechanic was inventive—the change in perspective to match the doll's height as you ran around the map cutting survivors at the ankle?"
He shrugged. "It was fine, yeah. I don't know if I'd go so far as to say nearly perfect. Like, it's good, the graphics are cool, and the gameplay is fun, but my audience is constantly clowning on me about my rank, so I'm thinking of switching anyway."
"That's cause you always just go for it without waiting for the team. It's a co-op game, playing with randoms makes it way harder than when you party up."
The alpha scoffed, rolling his eyes. "It shouldn't matter, you know? I always get put with a bunch of low-level feeders who don't know how to do shit."
That was exceptionally unlikely. Besides, I'd seen how Jason played. He was too impatient. Wanted to be the hero rather than use the co-op mechanics to his advantage.
"Or," I sing-songed in an effort to lighten the mood, "you're not as skilled as you think."
My joke didn't land. That much was obvious from the way his smile tightened, but before he could respond, the bartender returned to set our glasses down in front of us.
Little, tiny, minuscule kindnesses.
"Starting a tab?" he asked.
I put my hand into my bag, fishing for my wallet, when Jason said, "Yeah, leave it open, please. Together."
"You don't have to do that," I said, my hand still rooting around my purse.
"Don't worry, I got it."
I smiled, feeling a little nervous as I stopped hunting for my cards. "Uh, thank you. That's really nice."
The bartender took Jason's card. The alpha taking a drink from his beer reminded me to take a sip of my own.
Lime juice and rum hit my tongue, the alcohol a little stronger than I usually liked. I'd never been much of a drinker, preferring sweeter drinks to almost anything else.
I had no idea how anyone managed to drink beer—it tasted like if you left a bunch of bread in water.
So not comparable to the yummy, sweet, juicy drinks that I preferred.
"Wanna play something while we wait for everyone?" he asked, and I let him lead me towards the cabinets.
"Yeah, you're into like… shooter types. Right? Lots of targets and a handheld gun?"
Walking together through the space, the sounds of arcade machines pinging or playing intro music were undercut by an upbeat rock playlist filtering through the speakers. Even for a Tuesday night, the place was pretty empty. I'd expect at least a couple of regulars or maybe a few students looking for somewhere to unwind, but it seemed that Jason and I had the place mostly to ourselves. At least until our friends arrived.
Yippee.
"Yeah, but why don't we start with something to warm us up first? Everyone likes air hockey, right?" he offered, and I thought, foolishly, maybe he wasn't so bad.
"Yeah, sounds good," I said, letting Jason lead me past the woman we’d seen earlier just as she let out a loud, furious curse.
"Just warning you," the alpha said with a wink and a grin that, although did little to excite me, I had to admit was charming as he tapped a playcard from his wallet to the reader, making the puck drop into the far slot with a little clink! "I'm pretty good, so watch out!"
