Chapter 173: Annoyingly Good

Arthur stretched, rolling his shoulders with a playful smirk. “Some of us don’t need two weeks to nail a pixel-perfect jump.”

Liz gasped, feigning scandal. “Low blow!”

Arthur chuckled, but then paused, his expression softening. “You’ve actually gotten better, though.”

Liz blinked in surprise. “…What?”

“Your mechanics,” Arthur explained, nodding toward the screen. “Last time we played, you couldn’t dodge a skillshot to save your life. Now? You’re almost not terrible!”

Her cheeks flushed with embarrassment as she focused intently on her keyboard.

“…Shut up.”

Arthur observed her closely,the way her fingers stilled and how her bravado flickered for just a moment into something more vulnerable.

He nudged her foot playfully. “Hey.”

She didn’t look up.

“Liz,” he said softly.

“What?” she replied, still avoiding eye contact.

“You are good.”

She peeked at him from under her lashes. “…Really?”

He nodded earnestly. “Annoyingly so.”

A slow, mischievous grin spread across Liz’s face. “Good enough to beat you next time?”

Arthur met her challenge head-on with a confident smirk. “Never.”

She laughed and shoved his shoulder playfully. “Jerk!”

Arthur pushed back lightly with a grin of his own. “Brat!”

And just like that, the tension shattered like glass underfoot.

Time slipped away as they dove back into their game, the neon glow of Liz’s gaming setup bathing the room in vibrant blues and purples while casting long shadows on the walls as their digital battlefield raged on-screen.

Arthur’s fingers danced over the keyboard; his Malzahar weaved through minions with methodical precision while Liz’s Zed darted in and out of shadows like a phantom,her teeth gritted in fierce concentration.

“You’re dead this time,” Liz hissed, eyes laser-focused on the screen.

Arthur smirked without even glancing away from his character’s movements. “You said that ten kills ago.”

“Yeah, well, this time I mean it!” She lunged forward; Zed’s blades flashed, but Arthur sidestepped at the last second, leaving her combo whiffing into empty air.

“Predictable,” he muttered as he retaliated with a perfectly timed silence that locked her out of her abilities.

Liz let out an exasperated growl and slammed her palm against the desk. “Oh come on! That’s cheating!”

“It’s called crowd control,” Arthur corrected him with amusement dripping from every word. “Maybe if you didn’t dive like a maniac every time…”

“I don’t dive like a maniac!” she protested vehemently.

“You literally just did.”

“That was calculated!”

“Calculated to lose?” he quipped back.

Liz’s response was abruptly interrupted by three sharp, deliberate knocks on the door. Both she and Arthur froze mid-combo, their gaming focus shattered.

A moment later, Alfred’s smooth, measured voice seeped through the wood. “Master Arthur, Miss Elizabeth. Dinner has been served. The others are already seated in the dining hall.”

Without even glancing away from the screen, Liz shot back, “Tell them we’ll be down in five minutes.”

Arthur snorted in disbelief. “She means twenty.”

“I mean five!” Liz insisted.

Alfred’s sigh was audible even through the door. “Miss Elizabeth, we both know that is patently untrue.”

Liz groaned and finally tore her gaze from the game to glare at the door. “Alfred, I swear to god, if you make me leave now, I’m gonna…”

“You’ll what?” Arthur raised an eyebrow playfully. “Hack his tea kettle again?”

Liz’s cheeks flushed with embarrassment. “That was one time!”

Alfred cleared his throat with a hint of amusement in his tone. “I have installed countermeasures since the last… incident.”

Arthur barked out a laugh. “Wait, she actually did hack your…”

“It was a demonstration!” Liz exclaimed, throwing her hands up defensively. “And it was funny!”

Alfred remained unfazed as he replied dryly, “The screaming was educational.”

Arthur wheezed with laughter.

Crossing her arms defiantly, Liz shot back, “Okay, first of all: rude! Second of all… five minutes, Alfred. Please.”

There was a brief pause before Alfred responded with a barely concealed chuckle in his voice. “Five minutes it is then,Miss Elizabeth! Not a second more.”

“Yes!” Liz pumped her fist triumphantly and immediately refocused on her game screen. “Alright big bro, prepare to lose…”

But Arthur had other plans; his Malzahar flashed forward and locked her Zed in place before she could react.

“What?!” Liz shrieked as her health bar plummeted into oblivion.

“Dinner waits for no one,” Arthur said smugly while standing up and stretching like he’d just completed an epic quest.

Liz gaped at him incredulously before exclaiming, “You…you monster! That was sneaky!”

“Strategic,” he corrected with a smirk.

“Cowardly!” she shot back.

Arthur shrugged nonchalantly. “Still won.”

In an instant, Liz launched herself out of her chair and tackled him in a half-hearted attempt to put him in a headlock,but Arthur sidestepped easily and sent her stumbling forward with an indignant yelp.

“You..ugh!” She whirled around to face him again and pointed an accusing finger at his chest. “This isn’t over!”

Arthur merely smirked back at her. “It is for tonight.”

Liz let out an exaggerated groan, throwing her head back with a flair that could rival any dramatic actress. “Fine! But tomorrow… rematch!”

“Can’t wait,” Arthur replied, a smirk creeping onto his face.

With a playful flick of her tongue, Liz stomped toward the door but paused mid-stride to glance back at him. “…You’re actually coming down, right?”

Her tone shifted less theatrical now, more sincere. “You’re not going to ’forget’ and just disappear into your room again, are you?”

Arthur met her gaze, the weight of her question hanging in the air between them. How many times had he done just that?

He took a deep breath and nodded. “Yeah. I’m coming.”

Liz scrutinized him for a moment longer before breaking into a grin. “Good! Because if you bail on me this time, I will send Alfred after you!”

Arthur rolled his eyes in mock annoyance. “Noted.”

With that, she yanked the door open and shouted over her shoulder as she bounded down the hall, “And I’m telling Oscar you lost!”

“I won…!” he protested.

“Loser!” she called back with laughter echoing through the corridor.

Arthur shook his head, unable to suppress a chuckle as he followed her out, the glow of their paused game still flickering behind them like a beacon of unfinished fun.

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