The Bouncer And The Librarian

9

Jump Scares

The game was just as Dalia feared-full of foreboding violin strings and vengeful, murderous jump scares meant to make the player's blood run cold. The main character trod slowly forward with a pipe in hand. The view zoomed in slowly until-THE STABBY ALIEN INFESTED CORPSE BURST OUT!
Balroy stiffened, but retained his seat and his dignity.

Dalia was getting into the game, eyes fixed on the screen. The plot so far was not disappointing. Then the jump scare happened and the woman screamed in a short sharp cry that consisted of, "OH GOOD GRAVY!" with a large jolt.

The bouncer sucked in a breath to stifle his sudden bark of laughter and began to cough. The distraction made it difficult to kill the monster with grace, but he managed not to die. After clearing his throat, the bouncer looked down at her with a vaguely smug twinkle in his eye. "Still alive down there?"

Dalia was gripping her bottle tightly with wide eyes. "Oh yeah, just surviving a heart attack." She laughed awkwardly, then looked up at him. "Oh don't laugh at me, you ox. That was scary!" she said with a laugh before huffing out a breath. "Wow, okay, scary bar raised." She cleared her throat, straightened in her seat, and looked at the television. "I'll try not to scream again."

A rich sound seeped into her ears as the bouncer chuckled. "I hope not. I would hate to have to explain to a concerned neighbor that I am not actively murdering you." He pressed start once more and walked the character forward. Smears of blood led to rows of mounds where the dead crew members had been placed side by side before those people too were slain. His character got his first gun and Balroy reloaded on reflex.

Dalia looked at the man in pleasant surprise. He had a nice sounding laugh. Husky and sexy. She blinked at the thought, surprised at the direction her mind had gone. Dalia looked to the tv with slightly flushed cheeks. Gosh, Dolly, don't be a perv. If he wanted you that way he would have made it known by now. Then her eyes went to the television, seeing many corpses bloody and not lacking at all in gore. "Oh yucky, poor people did not die well." She took a swig of her beer, then opened the basket. "Okay, I have cookies, BBQ chips, regular Ruffles and Sour Cream and Onion Ruffles. Also some trail mix. Want any?"

Balroy glanced over. "Hm....chips, please. What kind of pizza do you like?" When she handed him the snack, he popped the first satisfyingly large potato sliver in his mouth so it was hanging halfway out as he advanced.

"Bacon, bacon, and more bacon," she replied. "But I'm not picky, so whatever you want to get I don't mind eating." She opened the bag of BBQ chips. "I can order the pizza since you're playing."

"So bacon, then. Don't take too long, or you'll miss the violins." It could have been a joke. There had been nothing but violin warbling to spare. The music gradually built to a pitch before his character ran into a person ramming his head into a wall repeatedly. Balroy crouched and snuck the avatar past.

Dalia cringed at that. "Oof. Creepy." She stood. "I'll hurry and order, then. You can keep playing." The woman stepped to the side and called the pizza place. She ordered a medium pizza and an extra large. When Dalia sat back down and looked at the tv, she cringed once more. "Spoopy game is spoopy."

Balroy snorted at that. "If it's too much for you, we can play something else. It's no good if you're flinching in the bad way the whole time."

"I'll stick it out a little longer before I decide. The story is so good, I really wanna see what happens." Dalia picked up another cookie and held it out to him before grabbing one of her own. "If you want another beer let me know."