Motioning with his controller, waving it around and gesturing towards the television screen, Ron shouted out a warning.
“KP, to your left!”
“I see it, thanks!” Kim laughed back as she held down the front black button and A button to dodge the oncoming attack.
“Nice move Princess.”
Next to the dynamic best friends duo, Shego murmured unhappily under her breath. That attack was supposed to land! She gritted her teeth and only stole a quick glance at her girlfriend before returning her concentration to the television screen. But her redheaded partner only chuckled with mock arrogance and returned a backhanded compliment.
“Nice miss Shego.” Quickly, she blew an air kiss to her lover to still show her affection.
“If that idiot over there hadn’t warned you, I wouldn’t have missed!” She pouted and protested, nodding her head towards Ron.
“The name’s Ron!” Ron yelled back.
“Whatever.” Shego shrugged and rolled her eyes, but with a hint of playfulness about her. “You’re still an idiot to me.”
“Hey!” Kim warned, moving to get in between Shego and Ron, who looked like they were about to face off in a mock wrestling match. She winked at her girlfriend. “You want to pick a fight? Well, fight someone your own size.”
“KP!” Ron cried out indignantly, expression turning slightly hurt and confused.
“You want to fight her?” Kim eyed her best friend with more than a bit of disbelief. “I mean, if you really have a strong urge, then go ahead.”
“Err, actually, KP, I think you were right. You should fight her.”
Throwing up his hands, Ron quickly and hastily backed away and picked up his controller again, staring quite intently at the screen and having a one-sided conversation with one of the lesser bosses he was fighting with.
“Oh, for the love of doy!” Shego muttered under her breath, staring at her portion of a rather dull and blank screen. “Somebody better fight me. I’m getting bored over here.”
“Go for it KP!” Ron urged on as he switched his game from one-player to multi-player with a mere touch of a yellow button. “I’ll go take care of Drakken over there.”
“Sounds good Ron.” Kim grinned over at Ron before winking rather suggestively at Shego, who made a show to look bewildered and confused.
“Finally! Less chitchat and more fighting.” Shego sighed in relief.
In moments, all four of them were yelling and cursing and cheering and muttering when their game characters won or lost or came out just surviving. Mid-game, unfortunately, Shego’s wireless controller lost connection with the central game terminal. And when Ron made the mistake of snickering at Shego’s setback, the sound of igniting plasma could be heard as Shego reached out and tried to swipe Ron’s controller to even the odds.
“Hey, no plasma! That’s cheating!” Ron cried, leaning away from Shego’s thieving attempts, still locking in a fierce battle with Drakken, who was too busy trying to figure out the celerity attack move to notice the quarreling mess threatening to erupt into full chaos next to him.
“Hey now, I AM the villain.” Shego smiled at Kim’s friend. “It’s in my nature.”
“It’s also in your nature to eventually get your comeuppance.” Kim grinned back, matching the obviously fake saccharine smile Shego had only flashed minutes before.
“Naw, that only happens in movies.” The former thief waved off dismissively.
“You sure?” Kim tilted her head.
“Yeah. Now bring it!”
And without any further hesitation, Kim pressed the start button, and the battle began anew, and within a mere two minutes, Ron had already lost to Drakken, who was cheering about his “mad” scientific skills and how those helped him win. Although Ron kept arguing how intelligence and logic wouldn’t significantly aid one in succeeding at a hands and eye coordination video game, Drakken continued to insist otherwise. And in a fit of irritation, Ron finally threw up one of his hands and gave up winning the agreement.
“Kim!” Ron whined, dropping his controller in frustration.
But Kim wasn’t paying attention. She was too engrossed in her battle against Shego. To the untrained and inexperienced eye, the spectacle was amazing and mindblowing. Their sharp vision and catlike reflexes, all their practice and precision – they all came together into a surreal harmony for an almost ludicrous and mundane endeavor: Video games.
Before her conscious mind could digest and interpret what her eyes were viewing on the screen, her body was already reacting and pressing the appropriate combinations of buttons to launch the necessary series of defenses and offensives. With a burst of speed, and her treasured legerity token spent, she ran past her enemy at breakneck speed to dodge an oncoming attack.
“Well done, Princess.” Shego nodded, noting the fast reaction and good use of Kim’s collected tokens.
“But of course.” Kim answered back, flipping her auburn hair behind her back idly and grinning at her former enemy.
“You’ve been practicing and studying.” Shego noted, guessing Kim’s demonstrated game prowess was due to living with and constantly babysitting the Tweebs.
“Well, I do like to keep in shape, you know.” Kim held up her controller in the air triumphantly, flexing her biceps in a show of superiority.
“Aww, how sweet. Just for me?” Shego playfully batted an eyelash.
“For you? Noooo…” Kim drawled, shaking her head, but also slyly giving Shego a small wink.
“Hey, I was just starting to feel all warm and cuddly.” Shego frowned, pretending not to notice Kim’s admission of playfulness.
“Sorry Shego. Not today.” Kim stuck out her tongue and wagged a finger at her girlfriend.
“Ugh.” Shego muttered under her breath, a little too forcefully. She held out a hand towards Kim. “Truce then?”
“You?! Truce?!” Kim gaped at the request, her mouth almost hanging open in surprise.
“Yeah, truce. At least until tomorrow.” Shego added quickly. “I’m hungry and I’m missing dinner.”
Leaning back on her heels, Kim considered the motion for a few minutes. “Alright, truce. But I expect we’ll finish this tomorrow. And don’t go being sneaky or anything during the night; I’ll know.”
“Of course Pumpkin.” Shego smiled. “Fighting without you, well, it’s just not the same.”
“Good. I mean…” Kim stammered, unsure of exactly how to counter the statement appropriately with the present company.
“Tomorrow then Princess.”
And without another word, the pair looked towards Ron and Drakken, who were busy wrestling a bag of chocolate-covered pretzels from each other. Upon feeling Kim and Shego’s gazes on them, they paused, looking for all the world like children caught with their hands in the cookie jar. And four grins later, they were all in the kitchen, preparing a group dinner, with the video game in the other room saving its progress until the next time.
The End
Next Prompt: “Hours”