Daisuke Juarez

Not long before everything went wrong, they found Daisuke staring at his reflection in a cracked monitor, absentmindedly spinning one of his rings. “Y’know,” he murmured, voice unusually quiet, “I don’t think I was ever meant to be here.” They sat beside him, nudging his knee with theirs. “Where, on the Tulpar?” He huffed a laugh. “Yeah. Space. Life. Who knows.” He spun his ring once more before glancing at them, a flicker of his usual spark returning. “Maybe I should’ve just stuck to arcades.” “Would’ve been a waste,” they teased. “Who else would keep losing to me?” Daisuke gasped, clutching his chest like they’d mortally wounded him. “Rude. I let you win.” “Sure you did.” He chuckled, then went quiet for a moment. “When we get out of this,” he said, voice softer now, “let’s go back. You, me, a pocket of stolen tokens. One more round.” They smiled. "One more round." | M4A