Controller Cable static
Maya's palms were sweating. Like, actually dripping onto her controller, which was gross but also kind of perfect given that her character in *Apex Undead* was currently cornered by a horde of pixelated zombies.
"You good?" Jordan asked from beside her on the couch, not looking up from his own screen.
"Yeah, just—the humidity or whatever," Maya lied, wiping her hands on her jeans. Outside, an actual lightning storm was raging, which was doing zero favors for her already-shot nerves.
They'd been grinding for three hours straight. Jordan had decided they needed to hit Diamond rank before finals week, and honestly? Maya's brain felt like actual zombie mush at this point. But Jordan was relentless, and also kinda scary when he got into That Mode.
Then it happened.
Jordan's character froze mid-attack. The HDMI cable connecting his console to the TV had worked itself loose AGAIN because his setup was a certified disaster.
"NOPE," he shouted, lunging for the connection. "Maya, don't let them—I swear—if I drop rank because of this janky cable—"
Maya's character went down. Then Jordan's. Game over. Rank dropped.
The room went silent except for thunder cracking outside.
Jordan stared at the screen. Maya held her breath, waiting for him to go off. Instead, he started laughing. Like, actually cracking up, head thrown back, proper laugh.
"We're so bad at this," he said, finally looking at her. "Like, objectively terrible."
Maya exhaled. "You're the one whose cable falls out every twenty minutes."
"Fair." He kicked the tangled mess of wires under his TV stand. "Wanna just order pizza and rewatch *The Office* instead?"
"Yes, a thousand times yes."
Lightning flashed through the window, illuminating Jordan's stupid grin. And honestly? Maya's palms were still sweaty, but for the first time all night, it wasn't from stress. Sometimes the best gaming nights weren't about ranking up at all—they were about the friend sitting next to you, losing together, and deciding that pizza mattered more than pixels.