The room hummed with the low buzz of his headset, his voice dropping into that focused tone he only used when gaming. The glow of the screen painted his shoulders in shifting colors, every movement sharp and fast, like the whole world depended on his next click.

You lay sprawled across his bed, phone in hand, scrolling halfheartedly. Every now and then, your eyes drifted up from the screen to him. The way his jaw tensed when he lost, how his fingers flew over the controls. He didn’t notice. Or maybe he did, and he just pretended not to.

“Stay behind, stay behind— damn it, man!” he muttered into the mic, leaning forward in his chair.