Sinner's Run Ch. 01

Noah shrugged in his chair, then realized Garthex couldn't see it. "I mean, so long as they don't make the numbers on the Defensive Primes worse I can still have fun playing them. Don't get me wrong, I'd fucking love if they buffed Arky here." He wiggled his aim from side to side.

"What would you do, if you could?"

Noah kept his fingers occupied by thumbing the scroll wheel on his mouse, making his character switch weapons rapidly. "I'd whack like, thirty seconds off the cooldown for his ult. WIth how fast fights happen in this game, and how quickly you can be downed, two minutes is too long. Ninety seconds seems better."

"Makes sense to me. What about Larka?"

"Oh, speed for sure." There was a reason many referred to the the big winged bear Prime as 'Larda.' "She moves like a refrigerator unless you use her active."

Garthex laughed. The Zone chime sounded again, and they stayed ahead of the purple wall as they closed in on the fourth play area, where most games ended. Indeed, they could already hear gunfire and explosions from thrown ordinance. "Ult time?" Garthex asked.

"For sure, go get 'em."

Ahead of him in-game, Nala put on a ridiculous turn of speed as Garthex activated her Baser Instinct ultimate. It put Nala in permanent sprint mode for thirty seconds, while adding another layer of temporary armor over the armor granted by her defensive items and buffing her melee damage. Noah followed closely as Garthex peeled off and made a beeline for a cluster of trees. "In there," he said.

Noah thumbed his active ability, adding a temporary armor layer of his own as a large fight spilled out of the trees. Players jumped, crouched, and slid around one another in a wild ballistic ballet as they sought the victory. Noah saw a player go down, only for them to disappear a moment later as their partner was eliminated somewhere else. Garthex uppercut one of the victors in the back with a buffed Nala melee, downing him in one hit. His partner turned and nailed Garthex with two quick Raimi shots, downing him immediately. "Rez rez rez!" Garthex said.

"I got you!" Noah activated Archangel's ultimate, which immediately picked a teammate up from a downed state. It also preserved buffs, which meant that as the other player turned to attack Noah, Garthex was back on his feet and still in ultimate mode. His next melee attack obliterated the player's health and shields, eliminating them and their partner. "Where's the last team?" Noah said.

A faraway shot struck Nala in the head with perfect accuracy, downing Garthex again. "Motherfuck, dude!" he swore. "That was a Judgement!"

A moment later, all of Noah's armor and three-fourths of his health vanished as the player with the rare, high-damage Judgement sniper rifle shot him in the head. He scrambled to try to find cover, but small arms fire lanced out from the other team, picking away the last of his health, eliminating him and Garthex for the win.

"God dammit," Noah sighed, sagging back in his chair.

"Of course they're running Montana," Garthex grumbled. The futuristic space cowgirl blew them both a kiss from the win screen. Montana was the bane of Garthex's existence, with her abilities that made her a natural fit for those who liked to snipe. "Why am I not surprised?"

"Hey, that's how it is," Noah said, sitting back up. "First game, no worries, there's plenty more."

"Yeah, yeah, I know." Garthex was quiet for a time as he glanced over the results screen. "Not a bad start though, since you're shooting impaired and all."

Noah snorted as he looked over the numbers, then clicked away from the screen. He was about to queue up again when he heard loud voices that cut through the thick foam padding of his headphones. He yanked them off to hear better.

"How in the world is this my fault?" Colleen seemed to have quite the brogue when she was angry.

"I dunno, it's obviously not mine!" came a response from an angry Milo. "It's never not worked before!"

Noah jumped as a bang sounded, followed by loud stomping down the hall. A moment later, he heard the apartment door open and shut. He sat still for a moment, then slowly lifted his headset back up. "Hang tight, man, something's going on."

"I heard. I'll play with randos while you sort it out."

"Alright." Noah got up out of his chair, leaving the headset on his desk. He cracked the door to his room open, looking up and down the hallway. Then he moved to Milo's door and knocked. "Milo? You alright?"

The door opened. Noah blinked. Colleen stood in the doorway. She had a hand across her chest, and it took Noah a moment to register the swell of bare breasts hidden behind her arm. He couldn't help but look down for a moment. Her panties were bright red. Likely the same color as his face. "Oh, shit, sorry," he said, jerking his head away.

"Ay, you might as well get a good look too," she said.

"I thought you were Milo!" Noah said in a strangled voice. "Did he just leave?"

"Fuck if I know."

Noah hurried down the hall to the front room. He cracked the blinds just in time to see Milo's car back out of the driveway and drive off. "Oh, dammit." He stomped back to his room and grabbed his phone off his nightstand, calling Milo's number. It rang and rang, until clicking over to voicemail. "Milo, it's Noah. Don't do anything dumb, okay? Call me back."

Colleen reappeared out of Milo's room. She'd thrown a shirt on at least, though from the two little bumps at her chest line she hadn't put a bra on underneath. Her legs were still on full display, however, smooth all the way up to those scarlet underthings. "Ah fuck, what's he done?"

"Hopped in his car and drove off somewhere. Drunk, probably." Noah took great care to keep his eyes on her face. "What happened?"

"Good old fashioned case of whiskey dick," Colleen said, making masturbatory motions with her hand. "'Course it's somehow my fault that he was too toasted to get it up."

Noah made a face. "That sucks."

Colleen smirked. "I was going to, and more, but turns out your friend's a dick."

"Sorry."

Colleen sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose. "Not your fault. Shame, really. He's still kinda cute. If he hadn't had too many for his prick to work properly he'd be all up in this right now."

Noah didn't know how to respond to that. He was saved by his phone ringing. Milo's name was on the phone screen. "Hold that thought," he said to Colleen as he answered. "Milo!"

"Big man," Milo said.

"What the hell, dude, where'd you go?"

"I went to Salty's down the street. They have three dollar shots on Fridays."

Noah made a face. "Dude, Salty's? Really?" His knowledge of bar culture was next to zero, but even his nerdy self knew that Salty's was a disgusting, divey hole.

"I wanna get blasted, bro," Milo said, sounding like he'd already spent about ten dollars. "Fucking bitch wasn't doing anything for me."

Noah scowled. "Don't be an ass."

"It's true!"

"You seemed to be totally about her in the backseat on the way home earlier."

"Different circumstances. Sometimes you feel the vibe when they got clothes on, but then when they come off, you don't feel it anymore, you know?"

Noah made a skeptical face, even though Milo couldn't see it. "I'm not sure that's how it works."

"'Course it is."

"Okay, whatever," Noah said, fighting back the urge to sigh into the receiver. "What about Colleen?"

"Call her a cab, take her home yourself, fuck, try and get into her pants yourself if you want, I don't give a fuck." A decidedly pronounced gulping sound followed. "I'll be here 'til close. I'll sleep in my car if I have to."

"Dude, I'll drag your ass home myself."

"Suit yourself."

Noah waited for a follow-up, then realized Milo had hung up on him. "Dumbass," he muttered. He'd born witness to a few of Milo's drunken benders before, but none had ever spiralled out of control so quickly or acutely as this one had. Milo normally wasn't this much of a dickhead. Just a normal, average amount of everyday dickhead.

Colleen had left the room, and Noah walked back to Milo's room. "Hey, can I at least-" he began, before realizing that she wasn't in Milo's room. He heard rustling noises in his own room and opened the door.

Colleen had taken a seat on the corner of his bed, looking around his room. After the heart-stopping moment of "holy crap there's a woman in my room' realization, Noah coughed politely. Colleen jumped a little. "Ah, sorry," she said. "Just wanted to see how the other half in here lives. This computer is a beast."

Noah realized his microphone was still on, and muted it with a quick flick of a switch on the headset. "Are you a hardware geek?"

She shook her head. "My last boyfriend was. I picked up a few things from him. You don't have water cooling in there?" She pointed to the glass side panel of his computer case that showed off the inner workings, lit by fluorescent white lights.

He perked up a little. "I never trusted those. Not a fan of liquid running inches from a five-hundred dollar processor and a graphics card that cost about as much."

"Oh, you built this bad boy then?" Colleen slid off the bed and crouched down by the little stand his desktop tower was perched on. She angled her head to and fro like a curious cat to examine the insides through the glass side panel. "Are those four gig RAM sticks?"

"Eight, actually."

She arched an eyebrow. "And you have two of them?"

"Hey, they were discounted, and now I'll never have to buy more RAM again," Noah protested.

Colleen smiled, a genuine one this time. "Fair enough." She looked across Noah's desk, turning so she could cast her gaze over the memorabilia on his bookshelves and walls. Noah did a quick mental catalogue of everything in his room to determine if he needed to distract Colleen's attention so he could surreptitiously hide something particularly scandalous. The only thing he could think of was...

"I've heard of this movie," Colleen said, looking up at the framed Ghost In The Shell poster. "Didn't they remake it a few years ago?"

"Yeah, but it was live action," Noah said. "That version is the original animated one out of Japan, and it's way better."

"She's got a nice arse for sure," Colleen said, sounding bemused.

Noah coughed. "Well, that's kind of part of the themes of the movie. The main character is an android, her mind entirely digital. Bodies have almost no meaning to her."

"I get that." Colleen looked at another shelf, this one full of movies. "Matrix, Blade Runner. You're a cyberpunk guy."

"The original Matrix is a god-tier film and I will not hear otherwise," Noah said.

Colleen made a face. "Would you be mad if I said I liked the other two?"

Noah gaped, then held up two fingers about an inch apart. "A tiny bit."

"Oy, I like the fight scenes, don't give me grief." Colleen sat back on the edge of his bed, splaying her fingers on the sheets. "Sometimes, though, I wonder if the Matrix wouldn't be such a bad thing."

"What do you mean?"

She made a dismissive gesture with her hand. "I mean, yeah, the whole 'human battery' thing is nightmarish. But the idea of a virtual world that we can make our own is kind of appealing, you know?"

Noah sat down next to her, staring up at the walls of his room. "I can understand that. People are so... complicated." He laced his fingers together. "It's why I don't go out with Milo very much. This little room here is like my own kingdom, and I like sitting on my throne."

Colleen reached out and felt the leather of his computer chair. "Feels comfy at least."

He managed a wry smile. "Got that good lumbar support, don't you know."

She laughed. Her fingers dropped to her thigh, trailing up with the soft rasp of skin on skin. "Got it."

"Do you, um, want a ride home?"

Colleen bobbed her head from side to side. "I promised my roommate I'd stay out super late so she could have time with her girlfriend. They get loud."

Noah blinked. "Ah. Want to crash here then? I'll go conk out on the couch."

"Such a gentleman." She put a finger by her lips. "Do you have a girlfriend, Noah?"

He shook his head. "Nah, not since high school."

"Ah. Good."

A soft hand took his cheek and turned his head. A moment later, warm lips touched his own. Noah went rigid, his mind going blank for several seconds. Man, had it been a while. He leaned in as he remembered how to, lessons learned from fumbling makeout sessions in the high school halls years ago. He didn't press against her too hard, not wanting to floor it too quickly in case he was misreading things. Though what could possibly be misread about a pretty half-naked Irish girl kissing him, he didn't know.

Colleen didn't seem to mind, her mouth breathtakingly soft against his own. The kiss lingered for a time, until they seperated, breathing heavily. Colleen's cute, freckled face was flush, and Noah felt that if someone cracked an egg on his cheek it would be over-easy in about ten seconds.

"I'd like to spend the night in someone else's bed tonight," she purred. "Plus, you're cuter than your roommate."

Noah managed a lame smile. "Now who's the flatterer?"

"And judging by that rager in your pants, are more ready than he is."

The boner had been there ever since he'd walked back into the room, and he'd been studiously ignoring it as best he could. "I didn't want to acknowledge it," he admitted.

Colleen reached over and took his wrists. She brought them up to her chest, closing his fingers around the soft swell of her breasts under her shirt. "Give 'em a feel," she said.

Noah did, and a soft, animal groan slipped from his throat. "Shit..." he panted.

"Are you a virgin?" Colleen asked.

Noah debated lying, then realized doing so might ruin the moment. "More or less, I guess," he said. "My highschool girlfriend and I tried it prom night, but both of us were inexperienced. It, uh... it didn't last long, ended awkwardly, and probably killed the vibe between us." He blushed and ducked his head. "Sorry if that's a dealbreaker."

"Are you kidding?"

Noah looked up. Colleen hooked her hands into her shirt and lifted it up and over her head. Her soft tits bounced once as they settled, nipples flushed red and stiff. She brushed a lock of her hair back over her ear. Her smile was sultry and promised a world of delight. "I'm going to give you a night you'll never forget, cutie. Come here."

She pulled on his arm playfully, and Noah went with it. The bed rustled as Colleen settled into the mattress, Noah on all fours atop her. He went with instinct and kissed her again, and to his elation she responded again. This time she was wilder, her tongue probing between his lips as her legs wrapped around his waist. Those soft panties rubbed against his crotch, making the bulge there ache. He slid an arm around her neck, grabbing the back of her shoulder and holding on as they kissed and kissed. Noah nuzzled down her jawling to her neck, giving her a tentative nibble on the throat.

"Careful, don't chomp too hard," she giggled.

"Sorry," Noah panted, his senses flooded with the smell of her. He knew from his one prior awkward experience that women could smell like guys did, but until now he never knew just how good it could be. He inhaled it as much as he could with deep breaths, exhaling warm air over her neck and collarbone. "You okay?" he asked. "Am I putting too much weight on you?"

"A little," Colleen admitted.

Noah felt like he could die. "Sorry!"

"Don't freak out, relax!" Colleen cupped his face gently, giving him a kiss on the nose. "Let me get on top of you, that way it's no big deal."

They rolled over as a pair, so Noah was on his back with Colleen straddling his pelvis. He felt the swell of her rear against the bulge of his erection, and rocked his hips back and forth. The rubbing felt good, a nice physical counterpoint to the delicious sight above him. Turns out Colleen's freckles went down her chest, dotting the top of her creamy breasts like sprinkles on a sundae. She pawed at his chest for a moment before lifting his shirt and sliding her hands in. Noah flinched at the contact, feeling mortified as her hands pressed and probed at his soft stomach. He didn't have a beer gut by any means, but he wasn't shredded either. "Sorry," he muttered.

"Quit apologizing." Colleen tapped him on the nose. "You're sexy."

"Sor... right."

She helped him wriggled out of his shirt, tossing it off to the side. Then she dipped her body to his. Her breasts swelled against Noah's chest, the softness of the contact it's own special kind of erotic. They kissed again, softly, as Noah grew bolder and slid his arms around her back back. He let his fingers trace lines down her shoulders, pressing in on the curve of her spine. "That's it," she purred. "Touch me." Her fingers ghosted over the catch on his jeans, undoing it with precise motions. Once it was free, she slid her hand in.

Then she stopped. Her palm cupped the line of Noah's length through his pants. "Uh..."

Noah stilled. "Something wrong?"

"More like something right, holy shit." Colleen's fingers slipped past the waistband of Noah's underwear and made contact with the hot, taut skin of his member. "Dude, you're a fucking stallion!"

Noah somehow managed to blush more than he had been. "It was too big for my high school girlfriend!"

"Because she was a virgin too and didn't know what to do with it." Colleen slid off him and hurriedly freed his cock from it's confines. The impressive length stood up straight, pulsing in time with Noah's racing heart. She stared at it with a mixture of awe and anticipation, and actually licked her lips. "I on the other hand, have been around a few times. Oh, Colleen, you made a good choice tonight," she muttered.

Before Noah could ask what she meant by that, she dipped her head towards his crotch. The first touch of her lips was like a shock, and his entire body came alive. Then she parted her lips and slowly slid them down his length. Noah's fingers curled in the sheets, his breath becoming shaky as his body tried to process the new, pleasurable sensations. "Holy shit," he panted.

Colleen's lips sucked on his tip for a moment before pulling away, her tongue swirling around his cockhead once. "Feels good, doesn't it?"

Noah's voice was shaky. "Yeah. Do that more, please."

Colleen hummed, then went back down on him. Her wet lips formed a tight ring around his length, her tongue sliding along the underside as she took measured breaths through her nose. The only sound in the room was the soft sucking noises of the act, along with Noah's heavy breathing the rustle of sheets as they shifted in minute ways. Out of the corner of his eye, Noah saw his computer go to sleep. Sinner's Run could wait.

As his pleasure began to crest and his toes began to curl, Noah tapped Colleen on the shoulder. She stilled, letting his length fall from her lips. There was a peculiar look in her eyes, a sort of faraway glaze that faded after a moment. "What is it?"

"I'm going to finish soon if you keep doing that," Noah panted.

Colleenlicked her lips. "In that case." She sat back on her butt, lifting her legs and putting them on Noah's midriff. Then she slowly slid her panties down her legs, leaving them dangling from an ankle. "Get all the way naked, handsome. I'm going to ride you like a pony."

Noah felt like he'd burst from excitement. "Yes, ma'am." He gently took her underwear and unhooked it from her foot, earning a giggle from Colleen for his efforts. Then he slid his pants and underwear all the way down his legs. Vulnerability crept through his being, being naked and alone with an attractive woman.

It was overridden by animal eagerness as Colleen straddled him, leaning back to give him a good look up her naked body. She looked down at him with a heady, infectious look. She wanted this, and that made made Noah feel far more at ease. Slowly, Colleen reached down and teased between her legs. She spread her labia, letting him get a good look at the inviting space between. "You ready?"