The world of VR

They had promised to meet up here. Simon had been spending more time in his apartment as Tatia had set him free, so he had hit Ash up with a message that he was ready, when he had set up his pc. He had plugged in his equipment and waited for the game to start. He wasnt sure what they were going to play today, but he was quite excited. He picked his regular character, looking around as he appeared in the pixelated world as his avatar - An awfully mundane guy that looked too much like himself. "I am so not calling you by that, Ash," he said as he shook his head and looked around. "What's gonna happen today?" he asked as he looked back at her.

In the virtual world her avatar looked like her, yet her hair was wild and black, and she would always wear alternative clothes. She looked like a emo-scene kid taken out of the year 2007. She was on before him, fooling around with her username. A notification popped up, making her chuckle as she exited the costum menu and jumped to his location. ”What’s wrong with LordRooster420?” she chuckled, but knew it was stupid. She just didn’t like to use her old username, it was not something she felt connected to later. ”Come on, let’s play something,” she said, hovering her hand over the selection of games.

He chuckled at her question and shook his head again, "Everything, Ash. Everything," he said as he narrowed his eyes a bit at her. He stepped a bit closer as he opened his own menu of games, looking through the different kinds of games. "This takes me back to the good old times. How many years has it been?" he asked as he narrowed his eyes a little and smiled slyly as he recognized one they had played far too often back then. He selected the game and a notification for his suggestion popped up on the screen. He chuckled at her, "Like the good old times," he reminisced on the times where life had been easier on both of them. It was just a fighting simulator, that wasnt really all that good, but they had spent hours on it when it was first released.

”Alright alright, I’ll change it later,” she said with a smile, looking at the different games. It had been ages since she had played, mostly because she had had to buy everything again, and it had taken time to get the money for it all. When he spoke of the good old times she frowned, but tried not showing it too much. ”I’ve lost count,” she mumbled, not really wanting to talk about the time they hadn’t seen each other. Simon was a good friend, and she could count on him. The fighting game made her chuckle, but she accepted without questioning it. The scenery changed to a large battle area and they were able to pick weapons. As per usual she didn’t choose any. ”Let’s see if the military has made you a better fighter,” she chuckled.

"It's not like mine is better though. SimonCams28?" he said with a disgusted tone at his own lack of creativity. He hadnt been on his account in ages, so he hadnt changed the name either. A part of him was wondering how they even managed to become friends with his lack of creativity. The game started and he looked at his clothes as they changed to the usual black long sleeve with olive green pants to match. He frowned a little as he didnt quite enjoy the military vibes that they gave him. Her taunt made him scoff as he smiled, "I guess we'll see," he said as he rubbed his hands together and motioned for her to come towards him as he made a defensive stand.

Ash moved closer as he gestured for her, moving calmly, but she was always so easy to read. She reached out, grabbing his shoulder and moving around him, locking her arms around his chest as she held him in a firm stance. ”At least we won’t feel pain,” she mumbled, still trying not to freak out at the surroundings. In many ways it reminded her of the past three years in captivity, but Simon was there. He made her feel safe.

He was surprised that she went for the lock right away, but none the less he let her. He chuckled at her words and made a small nod as he looked back at her. "You have no idea how much it truly hurts to be thrown on the floor like a ragdoll," he said as he turned for a second with her just to slam the both of them on the floor. He took the opportunity to get out of her grip as he grabbed her arm and locked it behind her back. "No more locks. We're here for the fights," he then said as he let go of her arm and rolled around to get up. He waited for her to get up before he threw a pretty good punch towards her, though it was clear that he wasnt exactly giving it his all.

When he slammed them on the ground she groaned a bit, but it was no lie that she had always gone for the locks first. Why? Perhaps her true hunger for closeness, but she wasn’t really in that mindset right now. Getting up she shook her head a bit at the words he had said. She didn’t know, but she did know pain in another way. ”Alright,” she agreed to his words and readied herself. The punch was fast, but she moved fast away from it, feeling the wind blow against her black hair. ”Jeez, they’ve upped their modules,” she said a bit amazed and straightened her back to look him up and down. A punch would be too easy, she moved down, swinging her leg against the ground towards his to hopefully kick him off the ground.

When she dodged his punch, he chuckled at her words and smiled a little, "It's a wonder that the developers took the time to optimize it. I think the last patch was a few months ago," he said as he readied himself, waiting for her move. He watched her leg move, but for some reason before he could react, he was already laying down. He frowned a little before he chuckled, "God damned lag," he muttered as he pushed himself to his feet. He looked up to a list of moves before he decided to do a punch combo at her. If she wouldnt block it, he would get in some solid hits on her. It felt weird to be fighting in a game after all these years of fighting in real life. He stood still for a while as he suddenly thought back at the times he had been fighting.

”Yeah yeah, blame the lag,” she giggled, surprised she had managed to get him on the floor. The combo was fast, and she was way too behind on using this gear to even block any of them, his last hit sending her flying through the room and landing on the ground. ”Take it easy with the combos you cheat!” she chuckled, getting to her feet, making her character set off in a run, where she tackled him, straddling him as she started hitting towards his face. It probably looked more like button smashing than anything else.

"Always," he returned her giggle with a chuckling tease. The combo hit and he twitched his eyebrows in surprise with a crooked smirk as he had sent her flying. Her words made him scoff as he readied up, clearly she had forgotten that running towards someone in a game like this was a silly move. Where he had been ready to block her under any other circumstances, he found himself just as rusty, blocking too late as he was tackled to the floor with her over him. The hits got in but he seemed to laugh more than be annoyed, "Isnt button-mashing cheating as well, huh?" he asked before he lifted his arms to block the hits. His leg moved up and wrapped it around her stomach, before he slammed her down on the ground, rolling away from her as he got to his feet. He brushed off his clothes and cracked his neck. He looked up, pressing a button that gave him a health bar. "Try a combo," he said as he waved at her to come forward.

”A combo? You trying to embarass me?” she chuckled as she got up from the floor shaking her head a bit. It had been too long since she had played this, and quite frankly she felt more and more nostalgic. Breathing out she opened up the menu, looking at it for a while. ”How do you memorize something like this?” she mumbled, taking a sharp inhale. She closed the menu, pressing a few buttons and … Nothing. She stood there for a while, frowning as she felt like she had pressed it right. Pressing it again just made her character freeze. ”Merde, I think I need to disconnect,” she said frowning. She hated that. ”It’ll be a few minutes, okay?” she said, giving one last look at Simon’s avatar before logging off. While she restarted her system she picked up her phone.

[Messages between Simon and Ash]
[Ash: Hey, sorry – I guess the internet in Gaia is just as bad as anywhere else *shrugging emoji*]
[Ash: You seemed upset though, something wrong?]

"No," he assured her with a smile, "Believe it or not, I never try to embarass you if I can avoid it," he added with a chuckle as he readied up. He watched her look through the menu, even though he couldnt see what she was looking at. Her mumble made him shrug as he tipped on one foot to another, feeling a excited to see what she was going to do. The menu closed and he clapped his hands together, yet it seemed like nothing was going to happen. He narrowed his eyes for a bit as she seemed to freeze, his shoulders loosened up as he looked at her, nodding at her words. "Alright, see you in a bit," he said as her avatar disappeared. He turned off his mic and took off the headphones as he leaned back in his chair, exhaling deeply. He looked around his dimly lit room and decided to get up and get a glass of water while he waited.

He sighed and shook his head rubbing his eyes a little. He leaned against the counter of his kitchentable as he opened the fridge, pulling out a apple before closing the door with the back of his hand. He took a bite of the apple and waited for her reply.

The first message came quickly, but then it stopped. Ash frowned as she looked at her phone. Her and Simon had been able to talk about everything and anything way back when, why had they build walls up to keep each other out? Of course a lot of things had happened in the years they hadn’t seen each other. Then she felt her phone buzz, she looked at the screen, breathing out as she considered what to answer.

[Ash: How about a few drinks?]

She felt awfully brave asking that, but she could use something to dull her existence. Or maybe put some words to whatever had happened to her, and him if he wanted to share.

[Ash: There’s a great bar around the corner from me – Do you want to meet up?]

It was all up to him. If he didn’t want to, she would start up her computer, if he did she would send him the adress and head out.