i track you down and find you irl. i observe you, learn your patterns, make a plan. i get hired at the place where you work, and i begin to make friends with you. you don’t recognize me on account of the anime pfp. it protects my identity. you take the bait. we discuss our common interests. eventually, we make a plan to play a video game together after work, exchanging our contact information. that night, we play the game together for the first time. our teamwork is electric. we dominate every round together, ending the night in elation and laughter over our performance. after we’re done playing, we stay on the call and talk for hours, about everything and nothing. i listen as much for the sound of your voice as for the words you say, and i feel a deep knowing that tells me you’re doing the same. we play every night, climbing the ranks together, diving deeper into each other all the while. our friendship attracts others like us, people who felt like they were on the outside until they found out what was inside them all along. the team has gotten bigger, but after they log off, it’s still just you and me. the best of friends. inseparable. one night, we’re all together. we’re drinking at your apartment, celebrating our collective success in the local esports tournament. the night is one of true joy and gratitude. one by one, our friends filter home, picked up by sisters and ubers. it’s just you and me. we’ve been alone together before, even drank alone together before. the joy of victory is routine to us now. nothing here tonight is new. nothing here is new, except for the way you’re looking at me. i see something new in your eyes. i know what it is because i feel it burning in my heart. i’m sliding closer to you. you raise your hand, touch my cheek. i slide mine around the back of your neck, feeling the warmth and electricity. you say something that i don’t hear, and i kiss you. we become a blur, feeling every part of each other and giving life to the dreams we’ve both had for so long. the most blissful and explosive finality, and the surging, electric possibility of what’s to come next. i feel you run your fingers up my back, a smooth, almost imperceptible unclipping motion, and then the sting of your nails on my now bare skin. i gasp and reach up to return the motion- wait, where… ‘front clip,’ you whisper, and we both giggle. you stand up and pull me into your room, the door sliding shut behind us.

sleepily and silently, we watch the sun rise over the water from your bed. your bare skin feels like air on mine. our hearts are dancing, and the world is full of joy.

‘fucking owned,’ i think to myself, as i drift back off to sleep