All-Guys August 4/4 - Guys 'n' LOLS (Patreon)

Brady boots up the console and hops back onto the bed, shuffling backwards on his butt where the girls are waiting. They've had their rounds of truth or dare, a short game of Fibbage and a few good turns of Pictionary interspersed with Mel's picks of fine horror cinema, but now it's time for something a little more digital.

"God." He props himself back against a pillow. "I'm glad y'all still invited me over after- y'know. After I came out 'n' all."

He lets out a weak chuckle.

"It's not really girls' night when one of them realises she isn't a girl, huh?"

Mel thumps his arm with a nasal laugh. "Don't be silly, Bee! We're not gonna kick you out of the trio just b'cause you figured out who you are!"

"Especially due to the heartache it must all be causing." Jean chuckles, leaning back on her elbows. "No more ink for a while, gonna have to save yer tattoo money for yer transition."

Laughing with the two gals, Brady feels himself relax, exhaling. The signs were there, and even if they weren't, he'd have to realise eventually. And the girls had gone to calling him 'he' and 'dude' and 'Brady' so seamlessly that it was almost like he'd come out years ago.

It was rough, but with good friends, it was a little less so.

"What d'you guys wanna play?" He looks to Mel; she knows where the spare controllers are. "Kart racing, a beat-em-up, something co-op...?"

"I was thinking, as a treeeeeat, while we wait for the pizza to arrive..."

Jean adds a solemn "We'll accept you being a trans dude but we will not stand for you for ordering a pineapple, anchovy, mushroom and olive stonebaked."

"...We'll turn on your old fave!"

"Ship Shooters 3k00?" His heart skips and for a second he's a kid again - back when he was all by himself, without the gals, before multiplayer games took over. "I- hell yeah, I love that game! But- hey, wait, isn't it singleplayer?"

Nodding, Jean stretches. "Yeppers, but hey, we're winding down. Don't wanna be too excited before 'za or we'll be sick. B'sides, I like watching you play, and I wanna see your highscore."

"Besiiiides, we know how to have some fun!" Mel's stretching too, moving closer to Brady's side as she sets her phone down under the pillow.

"I don't like that tone. That's your 'this plan is gonna end with one of us stuck on the roof or trying to fish your keys out of the gutter with a bra wire and a fridge magnet' tone."

"One time."

"Ah, February 15th." Jean swishes soda in a tall glass. "A night that will go down in campus history."

The glass clinks as she sets it down somewhere safe. The loading screen swirls, a deep tinny voice detailing the intricacies of the plot (ah, the nuance of 'evil space skull king exists, make him not do that') as Brady inhales nostalgia, getting a feel for the controls again.

"What's your usual top score?"

"Uh- story mode or endless mode?"

"Hmm- story mode. That sounds more fun."

"Regular, hardcore or space nightmare?"

The girls exchange looks. "Space nightmare. Let's go with space nightmare."

"335,400,012. I got a trophy in a kids' league tourney but it's still got my deadname on it. Gotta get it re-engraved."

Settling down either side of him, the gals nod and watch the screen as Brady starts a new game.

Inhale nostalgia, exhale confidence.

Back in the cockpit, baby.

He veers as the on-screen ship lunges to the side, tilting hard in Mel's direction. A stream of blue light and a volley of comets erupt; he slaloms through the debris to catch the glittering space-metals inside. Jean catches Mel's eyes - they don't know what he's doing, but he's damn good at it.

Time for some fun.

"H-hey!"

Jean's strong arm wraps around his ankle as he kicks, mentally hitting the accelerator only to be suddenly ensnared. He hisses under his breath as his craft takes a chunk of shrapnel to the wing, quickly readjusting for trajectory.

"What are you guys doing-?"

"Adding a little extra challenge."

"Yeah - an extra level of difficulty for you, gamer king!"

Laughter spills from his mouth as he feels Jean's fingertips dance over his trapped foot. The tickling sensation shoots up to his sides, where Mel leaps on the soft plush of his belly and begins to tickle-tickle-tickle away. His ship goes into a juddering spiral and he barely pulls it back up before a comet streaks past his damaged wing. He pulls up the console with a shaking thumb and diverts power from speed to repairs, correcting his course as best he can with the two girls attacking his ticklish nerves.

"G-guyhyhys, stahahap!"

"No chance! Show us your skills!"

"Yeah, you always said you could work under pressure, right?"

"Nahahat like thiiis!"

One of Jean's fingers wiggled its way beneath his toes. He jolted, squeaking, trying to torque away from the tickling while still focusing on the screen. A curse spilled out between his laughs as he took another hit from a stray asteroid.

Mel wasn't to be beat. She moved her fingertips over to Brady's belly, skittering them across the skin and making him buck and withdraw into a half-ball, trying to peek at the TV over the tops of his knees. Both hands flew into action and suddenly Mel was kneading his stomach mercilessly, laughing along with her ticklish friend as Jean massaged the helpless foot.

Focus. Focus. Focus.

Down, up, down-

Fire phasers, danger tactics, shift all energy from defence to offense, the enemy can't hit you if they're dead in three shots, come on-

A tinny roar played from the speakers and Brady finally collapsed onto the bed, giggling uncontrollably, curling up into a tight ball with the controller in the middle like a ticklish profiterole. After a few more moments of teasing his sides, Mel relented, and Jean - having relinquished his foot already - gave a hum of appreciation.

"That's a good score. A+ rank, even with all that?"

"I-" Brady was panting. "I would've gotten an S rank if..."

"Aw, we trust ya, Bray! You could've gotten the S rank if you'd had more training!" Mel wiggled her fingers at the Brady-ball. "Train ya to be able to play through the tickles, huh?"

Laughing, she picked up her phone.

"When's the 'za here?"

Looking to Jean, Mel pouted. "S'been delayed. Someone set fire to the dumpster out back of the restaurant."

"Probably Max?"

"Yeah, probs. I'm not gonna take him back, he knows that, he's just doing it for attention."

Brady sat up, still breathing hard. "You broke up with Max?"

"Yeah, he set fire to the dumpster out back of the pizza restaurant."

"Wait, you broke up with him now?"

"No, this was last week."

"He did it TWICE?"

"Yeah, s'why I broke up with him." Mel put her phone down. "We have another twenty, thirty minutes. Got another round in ya?"

Brady looked at the screen. Level 1, complete. A+ rank.

> Continue
> Retry
> Replay Cutscene
> Quit to Menu

Stretching out his legs, he smirked and steeled his muscles, thumbs on the buttons.

"You're on."