Chapter Text
“Is that me?” Daniel squinted at the screen. A month ago, Armand ordered a gaming chair so Daniel could watch while he played. Apparently, he’d decided it was time for Daniel to get more involved.
“Obviously.” Armand did something on his keyboard that shuffled through the outfits he’d put together. “Are you insulting my skills in Create-A-Sim?”
“…no?” Daniel looked closer at his Sim-Self, dressed in a leather jacket and standing against the gradient background. Alone. “Where are you?”
“That’s what you’ll be doing.” Armand scooted his chair over and pulled Daniel in front of the monitor. “Click the plus sign there. Good.”
Armand gave him a run down of the controls, swatting at Daniel’s hands before he could click the wrong thing. The Sim he made was a mess, nothing like Armand, but he got the gist of the game. Armand saved the design to some sort of library. Probably another installment of the fledgling babybook thing he had going on. “Baby’s first Sim” or whatever.
Then he added a new Sim and let Daniel at it. So many fucking options, all of which Armand had opinions on. Well, maybe he shouldn’t have let Daniel make him if he was going to have such an attitude about it. Armand was particularly unimpressed by the ridiculous outfit Daniel created for the “Hot Weather” category. Daniel added pigtails to make it worse. That earned a lovely little nip at his neck.
The end result had a sort of uncanny valley feel to it, but it was passably Armand. Not nearly as accurate as Sim-Daniel, but Armand’s eyes shook happily when he looked at it, so Daniel counted it as a win.
“You’re a natural, beloved.” Armand lifted Daniel’s hands from the controls to press kisses across his knuckles. “Do you want to keep playing? We can continue another day.”
Daniel ignored the rush of frustration that ran through him. He fought the urge to argue, to say he wasn’t like all the shitty partners Armand had. He didn’t find Armand boring. Not his personality or his habits or his games. But it was a fight that led nowhere. Reassurance was the key, proving it instead of just saying it. “Nope. I’m having a great time, baby. What’s next?”
He selected Armand’s personality traits (geek, perfectionist, evil). Armand made his opinions on them clear with his expressions (fine, am not, define ‘evil’). In the relationships menu, Daniel marked Sim-Dan and Sim-Mand as married and wrote in “Molloy” for the last name. A tiny sound escaped Armand’s throat. He looked at Daniel with wide, wet eyes.
“Makes sense doesn’t it? We’re companions.”
Armand nodded, blinking away the threats of tears. He kissed Daniel before sliding their chairs over again, taking control. “Now we can move into the villa.”
He rambled on about cheat codes and the price of their “lot”. When the screen loaded, Daniel was met with a near perfect replica of their Night Island home.
“Woah. Do I want to know how long you spent on that?”
Armand shrugged. “Not my longest build, but certainly my most detailed. What would you like us to do first?”
Option bubbles popped up around Sim-Dan. Daniel zeroed in on one. “We can make them kiss?”
“Oh beloved,” Armand grinned, “we can make them fuck.”
“Hell yeah. Let them get freaky with it.” Daniel watched them walk into the villa, slide into bed, and turn into a rustle of sheets. Oh. “I don’t know what I expected.”
“Did you want to watch? There is an unofficial expansion for that. Shall I download it?” Armand asked. He looked so fond of Daniel. What did you do with a look that honest and endearing? Daniel squished Armand’s cheeks until he hissed at him, pouting. “Pay attention to the game.”
Daniel watched as hearts exploded onscreen. He wheeled his chair closer while Armand queued up more romantic gestures. It was such an Armand thing to do. Make a little Daniel he could control like a puppet. Not that Daniel minded. He just wanted to see what weird shit Armand got up to with their little counterparts. “I vote to download that freaky expansion. Maybe you’re onto something with this whole gaming thing.”