Getting Owned

by Salie Havette

  Getting Owned

  By Salie Havette

  Casey stood before the front door, her heart pounding. The house address matched the numbers which she had written down on the slip of paper she held in her hand. This had to be Daniel’s house. Despite this, her social phobia plagued her and overrode all sensible thoughts. What if it was actually the wrong house? What if someone who Casey didn’t know came to the door, and she had to awkwardly explain herself? She felt as if she would somehow die if that were to happen. Feeling like a complete loser, she leaned against the door and tried to listen in. Muffled sounds penetrated the dense wooden door and made their way into Casey’s ears. It sounded much like a video game. Feeling relief, Casey became almost sure that Daniel was in the house, now.

  Casey had met Daniel in a class. Although Casey’s shy and anti-social demeanor tended to keep people at bay, Daniel had approached her to discuss a video-game related shirt she was wearing. Thinking back, Casey earnestly debated whether or not she regretted wearing that shirt. Even though Daniel was okay to talk to, she still preferred to be alone. Unfortunately, Casey found it difficult to just tell someone to go away, so she instead opted to listen to him and respond to the questions he was asking. Eventually, it turned into somewhat of a discussion, and Daniel proceeded to follow her into the cafeteria and continue to talk to her.

  This process repeated several times over a period of weeks, until Daniel had finally asked her if she wanted to come over and play games some time. Casey had reluctantly accepted, although she didn’t know if it was because she had actually been interested, or because she just couldn’t gather the courage to turn someone down. At least it made her parents happy; they had constantly expressed concern over her lack of a social life since a very young age.

  Bringing herself back to reality, Casey peeled her face off of the wooden door and glanced around for a doorbell. Finding none, she raised her fist to knock, but paused as the pounding in her chest became incredibly apparent to her. Once again, for seemingly no reason, images of an older man or a young child answering the door flashed before her mind. Slightly irritated at herself for not being able to think like a normal person, Casey slammed her fist onto the door twice, letting out a pent-up sigh immediately afterwards. Holding her breath, she listened intently to what might be going on inside of the house. The video game sounds stopped. Footsteps came towards the door. Casey began breathing again and her leg instinctively began bouncing up and down nervously. Just as she felt like she was about ready to bolt, the door opened up and Daniel was standing behind it, smiling expectantly.

  “Hello, Casey.” Casey almost cringed as she heard her name, instantly folding her arms together in an almost defensive manner. Hearing her name was not something she was used to.

  “Hey,” she croaked out, willfully halting the bouncing movements of her leg. Daniel gave her an odd look.

  “What’s up with your face?” he asked. As Casey recoiled in slight shock from the statement, Daniel sputtered out an explanation quickly.

  “I-I meant, one side is all red. I didn’t meant, like… anything.” A bit bewildered, Casey reached up and touched her face. A second later, she realized that what he was seeing was most likely the aesthetic consequence of her leaning against his door…and that she was probably touching the wrong side of her face.

  “I don’t know,” she muttered, folding her arms back together. Daniel’s embarrassment seemed to seep into her, and she already felt awkward enough to leave.

  “Well, come in,” Daniel said casually, a grin spreading across his face. Casey wished she could make herself feel as comfortable as he seemed to be as she stepped past him and into the house, avoiding eye contact as her hands fell down into her pockets.

  “Living room’s right ahead. I’ve got Bloodlines on, so we can play that.” As Casey made her way to the couch and fell back into the cushions, she saw Bloodlines: The Gauntlet paused on the TV. The Gauntlet was the newest game in the Bloodlines franchise, which was Casey’s favorite fighting game series.

  “I got this game after you told me about it,” Daniel informed her. “I’ve spent a few days practicing, so maybe I’ll have a chance against you, huh?” Casey couldn’t help but crack a smile. She remembered discussing with Daniel how she had kept up with the Bloodlines franchise since she was a little kid, and had played every game in the series.

  “Sure,” Casey said, sounding a bit cockier than she had planned to. Daniel grinned again as he shut the front door and made his way to the couch, plopping himself down right next to Casey. Immediately, Casey felt uncomfortable, and brought her legs up onto the couch, leaning sideways and directing herself away from Daniel. Daniel seemed to pick up on her discomfort and quickly moved to the other side of the couch, not saying anything. Before Casey could decide whether or not it would be proper for her to apologize for freaking out, Daniel handed her a controller.

  “So, Three Round Monty?” Daniel asked, quitting out of the practice match he had been playing, and returning to the main menu.

  “Sure,” Casey muttered in agreement, while nervously twiddling the sticks on her controller. Three Round Monty was the standard competitive game mode. It was similar to a “two out of three” system, but a third round would always take place, even if one of the players had already won the previous two.

  As Daniel navigated the menu and selected Three Round Monty, Casey readied her thumb over an analog stick in anticipation of the character selection screen. As soon as the character selection screen popped up, a voice from the TV called out “Choose your bloodline!” and Casey navigated to her favorite character, Brutalius, with blinding speed, locking him in almost instantly with a well-practiced motion. Brutalius was a fan favorite. He was an absurdly muscled man with no shirt whose face was hidden by a gladiator helmet, and he wielded a huge double-sided axe as a weapon.

  “Ah, man. I wanted to be Brutalius,” Daniel said in a disappointed tone. Casey failed to hold back a grin, proud of her character-selecting technique.

  “Everyone wants to be Brutalius,” She stated matter-of-factly. “Didn’t you know?” Daniel looked over at her.

  “Nope,” he said, sounding amused. “Why does everyone like Brutalius so much?” Casey perked up a bit at the opportunity to discuss something she actually knew about, while keeping her gaze on the screen to avoid eye contact.

  “Brutalius is pretty much a running joke in the whole series,” she explained. “Even though all the fighters are descendants of the fighters from the previous games, Brutalius is always Brutalius. He always fights to avenge his father, Brutalius, and has a son named Brutalius. And he has the same outfit, since his helmet and axe are always passed down by his father.” As Daniel chuckled at the explanation, Casey couldn’t help but smile along with him.

  “Wow,” Daniel said. “So it’s like the same character in every game, even though it’s technically a different person?” Casey nodded.

  “Pretty much. Everyone who’s a fan of the series tries to pick him as fast as they can online since they’re all familiar with him and his moves.” As she said it, Casey eyed the selection timer. Only ten seconds remained.

  “Well, whatever. Victus is cool, too.” Saying that, Daniel locked in Victus; a tall, slender, pale man who wore a black leather tuxedo with a fedora, and used many hidden daggers as weapons.

  “Pfft, Victus is for pussies,” Casey stated dismissively. Daniel laughed at her sudden change in attitude as the game began. Just as Daniel expected, Casey was far more practiced than he was, and the first round was over in about thirty seconds. Casey adjusted her posture on the couch to a more upright position and beamed at her victory.

  “We’re gonna have to play something else if this is all you can do,” she told Daniel as the nex
t round began.

  “No way,” Daniel told her defiantly. “I just wasn’t expected you to attack so hard. The AI plays way more passively.”

  “What an excuse,” Casey said with a grin. She was already feeling way more relaxed.

  As soon as the next round started, Daniel began backing away and throwing daggers, while jumping over Casey’s head whenever she got too close to make sure she was always out of reach. It took a little over a minute, but eventually Casey’s health was whittled down, and the victory went to Daniel.

  “Fuck, I told you Victus was for pussies,” Casey said with a tinge of frustration. “All you do is run away and throw shit.” Daniel shrugged nonchalantly.

  “Sounds like you’re just not clever enough to use him,” he said in a taunting manner. Casey frowned slightly and gripped her controller tightly as the next round began.

  “… No one talks to Brutalius like that and lives,” she whispered jokingly. Daniel was caught off guard by her unusually friendly nature and failed to react in time as Casey started the round by dashing straight towards him, taking a chunk of his health with a powerful attack. Daniel recovered quickly and jumped into the air, but Casey was wise to his tactics and followed underneath him, hitting him with a powerful uppercut before he landed. It wasn’t long before Daniel lost the final round.

  “Well, fuck me,” Daniel said with a sigh. Casey seemed overjoyed with her victory, bouncing up and down slightly on the couch.

  “That’s what you get for not fighting like a man.” she said happily. Daniel laughed softly.

  “I suppose so, huh?” he agreed, his hand covering his eyes as he rubbed his temples. “Say, you hungry?” Casey thought for a moment.

  “Kinda,” she said, folding her legs up onto the couch and feeling refreshed by the sudden feeling of comfort she got from being her natural self around another human being.

  “Well, maybe we can play for stakes,” Daniel said with a grin. “If you win this time, I’ll make us some food.” The corners of Casey’s mouth turned up at the idea.

  “And what about if you win?” she asked curiously.

  “Hmm… How about you get naked?” The smile was almost immediately wiped off Casey’s face as she heard him say it.

  “Nuh-uh,” she stammered out, taken aback by the request. “Way not fair.” Daniel couldn’t help but laugh at her expected shocked response.

  “Fine, fine. How about just your shirt, then?” Casey paused before answering. It hadn’t occurred to her before that Daniel was interested in her like that, especially since she was such an awkward recluse. However, she didn’t find Daniel to be a bad guy, or unattractive at all. In fact, if anything, she considered him to be somewhat out of her league. Still, she barely even felt comfortable talking to guys, much less taking her clothes off for one.

  “… Why do you want me to take my clothes off?” she asked stupidly, trying to find something to say. Daniel responded by grinning at her.

  “Why do you care? Afraid you might lose this time?” Casey fell silent again and considered the offer. It wasn’t like he was going to take pictures or anything. And a guy seeing her bra probably wasn’t going to kill her…

  “Fine,” she said hesitantly. “…But you better make something good.” Daniel grinned and hovered over the “rematch” option.

  “And you better have nice breasts.” Casey felt herself blushing as Daniel started the rematch. Nonetheless, she quickly scrolled down to Brutalius and locked him in.

  “Damn, you’re good at that,” Daniel told her. He had only made it halfway to Brutalius before Casey locked. “Don’t you want to play someone more feminine?” Casey shook her head, smiling.

  “Nope, Brutalius all the way.” Daniel debated for a few seconds, and then selected Celaria, a beautiful, angelic-looking blonde woman who wore heavy metal armor and used a lance.

  “Ew,” Casey commented disapprovingly. “The only people who play Celaria are obnoxious gamer girls who need an easy character.” Daniel adjusted himself on the couch, visibly annoyed.

  “You’re so full of shit.” Casey let out a small giggle, somewhat satisfied by the fact that she was got on Daniel’s nerves. The round begun and Daniel immediately opened up with a thunderous lance attack. Casey tried to rush back at him, but Daniel was being too elusive; jumping and jabbing at all the right times. Casey bit her bottom lip and bounced her legs up and down as she tried to overcome Daniel’s strategy, but she eventually lost. As her health bar ran empty, she let out a frustrated sigh.

  “God, you really play like a coward.” Daniel just laughed at her frustration.

  “I’m doing what my characters are good at. You just don’t know how to counter them.” Casey ignored him and stared back at the screen, waiting for the next round to start. But Daniel paused the game. Casey looked over at him, confused, only to see that he was grinning.

  “Shirt,” he said expectantly. Casey’s eyes widened slightly in surprise.

  “But that was only the first round! There’s still two more to go.” Daniel laughed.

  “We can take it one round at a time,” he said. “You can win your food next round this way, right?” Feeling competitive, Casey set her controller aside and reached down, grabbing the base of her shirt. Before lifting up, she closed her eyes and gave pause, suddenly worried about what Daniel might think of her.

  “Need help?” Daniel asked teasingly.

  “Fuck you,” Casey responded, trying to sound dignified as she lifted her shirt off and placed it next to her. She then immediately picked up her controller and huddled her knees up towards her chest, trying to block out as much as she could. “Now unpause so I can win and put my shirt back on. And then you can get in the kitchen.”

  Daniel chuckled at her unusual assertiveness. “And what if you lose this time?”

  Casey looked ahead in silence, debating. “I dunno… socks?”

  Daniel let loose another chuckle, “That’s a bit too moderate. I think if I win two times in a row, you should have to take your bra off and suck my dick.”

  Casey tucked her head between her knees to hide her face as she fell silent again. Although she didn’t want to admit it to Daniel, she was somewhat turned on by the idea. At the same time, however, the thought of getting that personal with someone so suddenly scared her. She could feel Daniel staring her down, awaiting her response hopefully.

  “…You planned this all out before you invited me over, didn’t you?” Casey asked, lifting her head up and looking over at Daniel. Just as she thought, he had been watching her.

  Daniel smiled as soon as he heard her accusation. “Maybe. You seemed like someone who could have a little fun without making a big deal out of it.”

  Casey glanced back over at the TV screen, her eyes scanning up and down as if she was looking for an answer to whether or not she should take the bet. Finally, she spoke.

  “Fine,” she agreed. “But it doesn’t matter, because I’m still going to win.”

  Daniel’s face lit up as she accepted the terms, and he unpaused the game once more.

  “Get your mouth ready,” he said confidently as the round started.

  Casey’s mind felt like it was reeling from the thought of someone in the same room speaking to her in such an overtly sexual manner, and she once again failed to protect herself against Daniel’s first-strike lance attack. As her heartbeat grew faster, she realized with a sense of dismay that she had gotten so wrapped up in the unexpected turn of events that she had forgotten to formulate some kind of plan against Daniel’s tactics. Thinking fast, she repeatedly tried to hit him with jumping attacks, but only landed a few as Daniel once again whittled her health down to nothing. As Celaria stood victorious, Daniel paused the game a second time and looked over at Casey, not saying anything.

  “…Fuck,” Casey stated in acknowledgement. Daniel could only smile triumphantly, unable to hide his excitement.

  “Get down in front of me,” he said in a neutral tone. Casey sat still and took a
few calming breaths before complying; dragging herself off the couch and walking slowly in front of Daniel before lowering herself down to her knees.

  “Start with the bra,” Daniel requested, parting his legs slightly to get a better look at her.

  Casey looked down at the floor as she reached back and undid the clasps of her bra. She let the straps fall down around her arms and held the cups over her breasts for a few moments before letting it fall off. Her hands immediately found their way to her chest and she covered herself protectively, her face hot with embarrassment.

  “Let me see,” Daniel said, sounding like he was enjoying his position.

  Casey couldn’t say anything. She simply closed her eyes and let her arms fall to her sides, exposing her bare breasts to Daniel. Feeling humiliated, she could only think of how he might be judging her.

  “Nice,” Daniel said approvingly. “Now undo my pants.”

  Casey’s heart was racing as she reached forwards and started to loosen Daniel’s belt. A quick glance up revealed that Daniel was watching everything she was doing. She felt more and more embarrassed as she fumbled with the button and zipper. It wasn’t long before Casey was faced with nothing but the visible bulge in Daniel’s underwear.