Gretchen walked in the living room, dolled up in a light pink dress with purple polka dots. Gaz lounged on the couch in a slightly too big t-shirt and shorts playing Stay Alive. A simple Zombie-based shooter on the TV.
“Uh, hi.” Gretchen hadn’t really introduced herself to Dib’s family yet, they had only been dating a few weeks after all. “I’m-”
Gaz sighed and looked up from her game, “Gretchen right? Dib’s not home yet. Something about Zim’s new scheme.” She rolled her eyes.
“Oh,” Gretchen said quietly, “Would you mind.” She pointed at the couch. Gaz grunted and she took that as a yes. She watched Gaz play for a while, the small movements of her body when she shot, as if her leaning would help the character move. The slight turn of her lips when she made a particularly good movement. It was cute in its own way.
Gretchen then heard her growl. A large bright red Zombie’s body filled the screen as he gave an evil laugh. “This,” Gaz said, “I hate this boss. They just swarm you with enemies instead of having a REAL boss battle.”
Gretchen laughed, “Yeah, it took me like 3 days to get past this one.”
Gaz paused the game and moved towards her, “Wait, hold up. You play Stay Alive?”
Gretchen nodded, “YEAH! The story mode is so much fun, I love Lorina.”
Gretchen finger gunned, “But she has a caring side too. Oh Gosh when they killed her dog in that cut scene.”
“The writers were absolutely trying to manipulate us emotionally. Introducing a dog just to kill it off.”
Gretchen put her hand to her chest, “But it still hurt! I was crying for days.”
Gaz snorts, “Whimp.” She shoots the head off of one of the Boss’s soldier’s head. There’s a short silence before Gaz continues, “You know he probably forgot about the date entirely.”
Gretchen sighs, “Yeah, that’s Dib for you. I’m not exactly a memorable person anyway.”
Gaz doesn’t look at her, the boss’s head exploded and they both whooped in unison. “... Since Dib’s not showing up, Stay Alive has a multiplayer?”
Gretchen’s face lit up, “Oh hell yeah!”
Hours passed and Dib never arrived, but Gretchen didn’t consider it a waste of a day. Far from it, Gaz was sweet in her own way. And as she walked home she started to look forward to spending more time with her.
