Pausing the Game

by Michael Hudson

The Stopwatch

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So many days gone by that meant nothing to me. Just another day sweeping the floors, bringing out pizzas, and watching customers pass through the doors of the arcade. Boys, girls, men and women; all of whom come to play while I worked. Well, worked is a bit of an overstatement when you spend most of your time just standing around watching.

Watching and waiting. Even from when he was young there was one who managed to keep my attention. A young boy who ran around with the excitement that I once had. Who played even the awful games and found them amazing. He was… fun. I liked watching him and he played the games well. If I let myself, I could do just the same. I gave up on trivial screens a long time ago.

The years passed though and he became just another part of the arcade. He got friends, brought people who would never come otherwise, and became a part of the community. He was always innocent though. A boy with a heart of gold. Or, so I had thought for so long. His teenage years saw him here less and less after all and now it had been months since I last saw him.

So it was a pleasant surprise when I saw him today. He was playing a cabinet he always had loved with turtles in a sewer, battling it out in up to four player co-op. It was time to catch up I thought, snapping as the world around me froze in time. I included him in my bubble though as he wouldn’t notice, at least until we were done.

I tapped him on the shoulder, giving him the best smile I could while I wore my normal uniform of a button up white shirt, red vest, and black slacks. My black hair was tipped with red and came down to just above my blood red eyes, all of which he might or might have not taken in in his quick glance up. It was heartwarming though that that was all it took for him to be able to say, “Hello Mr. Faust. How are you?”

I slipped a token into one of the slots and stepped beside him to join the game, knowing he didn’t mind. Or, usually didn’t as for once he paused when I did so before continuing to play. No comment on my choice of character, bringing me up to speed, or anything that I was so used to seeing him doing when a new person came up to the cabinet. No, instead he stayed hunched over and stared intently at the screen.

So I paused him. I looked him up and down, examined every piece I could, including a check of ID to be annoyed that I had missed his eighteenth birthday recently, and then finally finding it. A few places too tender. A few texts that were left unanswered. A change to his home that I had not realized sooner.

And as I brought him back into my realm I said, “I’m fine. Just looking for a new game to play. Or, more specifically, one to join my game.”

That got his attention as he glanced away from the screen again, cursing slightly as he got hit carelessly before he asked, “Game? Are you developing something?”

I chuckled a little, remembering the anger that I brought to the person who in fact gave me these powers when I won his little bargain. “Oh no. I got a game a long time ago and, well, I’ve kind of kept it to myself. Slipped it into my vest pocket,” I said as I pulled a stopwatch out of said pocket, “and just never found a proper player for it. I think it could be… fun to see you play with it.”

The boy didn’t even look up from the screen as he continued to hit buttons, flick the sticks, but his eyes burned with the same intensity I saw every time we got a new cabinet. That desire to check the systems, get at least midway through it, to just play! That was the boy that was trying to hide from me right now and I would not have it. I only hoped he enjoyed my gift as much as I expected him to. “What… What’s the catch?”

I shook my head as I extended the watch to him. “No catch. Just know that if I think you’re really misusing it that I’ll come back for it. Otherwise, why don’t we start this like any good open world game? What’s your name?”

“Faust, you know my name is-”

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“Button Mash.” When he looked up though, the noise of the rest of the arcade slowly coming back to his ears, something he hadn’t even noticed was missing, Faust was gone. Instead, he heard something clatter onto the ground. When he bent over to grab it, his curiosity and confusion getting him to forget about the game for a moment as he picked up a silver stopwatch.

Press the top to escape, and do the same to return. Tap it to something to make it join you, or watch as it catch up to your actions.

What… What did it mean by all of that? Was this Faust’s game? That didn’t make any sense. Still, no reason not to try clicking the to-

Button fell against the cabinet as it felt like the entire world shifted around him. The sound of… everything fell away too. He even looked at the arcade cabinet, but unlike when he was playing with Faust, it stayed frozen. He even tried to move the sticks and, well, they moved but the characters on the screen didn’t. Maybe if he…

A single tap with the watch and he saw the stick freak out as it seemed to go in fast forward to catch up, but it was playing again, its music in the air while everything else was silent. Looking away from the cabinet and he saw that it wasn’t just that everything was quiet. Everything was still. Stuck in place like time had… Button looked at the watch, only to find its second hand twitching, attempting to go forward but incapable of it.

“Huh…” He blinked a few times, absolutely certain that this is Faust’s game. But… he should tell people like Sweetie’s sister about this, right? They were ones who dealt with magic and he shouldn’t have something like this. It was dangerous to play around with magic, but…

He swallowed hard, glancing at his phone, a text from his mom the last one he’d gotten wishing him a good time at the arcade. She was the one who gave him twenty dollars to escape with after all. Twenty dollars that had bought far too few tokens to get him all the way to dinner, which was in like five hours.

Unless… He looked over to the counter where you could buy the tokens and hummed to himself. After all, he didn’t know where any of his friends were and there was no reason he shouldn’t play along at all. Mr. Faust was a friend of his after all and he wouldn’t try to hurt him, or at least he hoped not. No, that was impossible. He should just focus on enjoying this! And, well, the extra tokens that it could get him, especially to make up for the lives he lost because of Faust.

So he walked towards the counter, trying to be careful not to bump into anyone. After all, what would happen if they suddenly woke up? How could he explain this when he barely knew what was going on. The throngs of people in the arcade made it a little less than easy with so many close calls with a kid he didn’t see there, two people who were just in the way, or some girl’s chest that stuck out too far. That last one especially happened so far as he curved his body to avoid them, his eyes glued to them to make sure he missed them. That was the only reason though! He swore!

But… if it wasn’t… what did happen if he touched someone so long as it wasn’t with the watch. The question came to a head when he got to the counter and he looked at the girl behind it. She started working there when she was seventeen and he was thirteen and time had treated her well as the sort of girl that he was attracted to. Goth makeup, black hair with purple streaks, a tight t-shirt with some band he didn’t know on it and a pair of tight, black shorts that framed her ass perfectly. Switchboard was just the sort of girl that had always made him blush and fidget, something she had even liked teasing him about in the past, especially once she stopped giving a shit about her job. Before the customers got to her, just like they appeared to be now if her rolling eyes were any indication.

He sighed as he slipped over the counter, joining her on the other side as he bit his lip. After all, the thoughts that were in his head weren’t really okay, were they? Then again, if he did do them, would she even notice? No, she wouldn’t, right? She was frozen in time after all! Still, just to be safe, he decided to reach over and gently poke her in the back before recoiling back, his arms covering his head as he crouched in an all too familiar pose for him.

But nothing happened. The only noise that he heard still came from the arcade machine he had brought to life. Otherwise, nothing. Looking back at her only proved that correct as she continued to stand there.

Button stood up slowly, letting one of his hands come up slowly. It first came up to her face, brushing the hair that she normally had over one eye out of the way. Yep, Switchboard was still breathtaking in her beauty and he could feel his cheeks flush with color as he even brushed his hand against her cheek.

He kept his distance still as he brought his hand down. After all, she would snap awake at anytime. He would get punished at any moment. He couldn’t actually touch her chest, which was at least as big as Tifa’s, if not… No, Laura Croft still had her beat, but he had to consider it!

But then he touched it. Well, the shirt over it. Pressing his hand down on it though, he could feel the bra underneath. And a layer below that was her chest. Her large, plump chest that still conformed to his fingers as he squeezed her breast. That sank with each bit of pressure until it finally denied him and pushed back. Was that because of the shirt though? Could he sink his hands in more?

The first thing that had to happen though was getting both of his hands onto her. He pushed her gently away from the counter, finding that she was surprisingly lighter than he expected to move. As if she barely was anything in fact in this timeless landscape. That couldn’t be remotely true of course with how heavy her breast had felt but, well, it was convenient.

And now it was time to bring his other one up. It still shook in a mix of lust and nerves, hovering there for more seconds than he was proud of before he finally grabbed it with all the strength he had as he forced it to move. Like this, he could feel the bra scrunch up in his hand while the shirt pulled at the collar and came up, showing a bit of her midrift, all to make up for his grip. Like this he could feel just how soft and giving it was. Like a thick pillow you couldn’t squeeze all the way through it, but you could still get so much comfort out of every bit inch of fluff.

Or flesh in this case. He couldn’t believe it as he loosened his grip, his hands shaking as her breasts met his expectations, but they weren’t even out yet! No, instead they were still trapped underneath her shirt and her bra. Underneath her clothes that he could… could…

He swallowed hard, reached down and paused. After all, a couple squeezes was one thing. Could he really strip her down? Well, a peak wouldn’t hurt. Yeah, he would just pull her shirt up, look at her breasts, maybe get one more squeeze and…

And wow they were big. He blinked a few times, already having raised the shirt as his hormones overrode his body and he couldn’t believe what he saw. A thick, black bra that was biting into her flesh, pushing it down hard as it sank into her breasts. It… it couldn’t be comfortable for her to be wearing that, right? Yeah, that’s why he was thinking of taking it off. It wasn’t because he wanted to see just how much bigger they were if he took it off, right? No, not at all. Not at all…

And when it came off, her breasts sagged a little, her large nipples protruding like pink spires from the middle of them as she stood there. Her pale skin contrasted well with how pink her areolas were and Button found himself licking his lips as he looked at them. He could do whatever he wanted with them. They were there just taunting him at this point after all. Begging him to do something.

Something else was begging him to do something with it though as he winced and looked down at the bulge in his pants. After all, at this point he was harder than diamonds. He could pull down her shorts and… He swallowed hard, shaking his head as he tried to dismiss the thought. After all, that was going too far, wasn’t it? She was a good person after all. If he did that she might… Well, he didn’t actually know. All he knew was that he wasn’t ready to go that far.

So, instead, after unleashing the beast he slid his long, throbbing cock between her thighs. She had a nice, toned set of them and he could feel his cock protrude well past the other side when he came waist to waist with her. This also brought his face just above her chest, her breasts pressed tightly against his as the pillows became flush against him, trying desperately to become compact enough to bring them together.

He looked up at her face, his cheeks burning as he looked at her tightly pressed lips. The rest of her body yielded fairly well to him though, so… So maybe if he just reached up, stood on the tips of his toes, and gripped her ass tight to help him get up…

He hummed as his lips touched hers. They were so soft and warm as they brushed against his, making him think of her breasts for a moment. They were different though. Instead of sexual this felt… sensual. Like it was more innocent even if it was just as stimulating. It was far different from how her thighs felt while they were wrapped tightly around his cock. No, they were strong, rough, but smooth as he slid along them, his cock trembling with each brush against them. Each fidget and accidental thrust of his hips.

He panted against her, wishing this moment could last forever. That he could continue push his hands against her tight ass. Keep feeling her lips against his. Keep her breasts grinding against his chest as he moved his body up and down. Every part of her stimulated him after all. This was a beautiful girl, the first to ever let him hold her like this, and so much of her just drove him crazy.

A madness that ended with his cock, firmly pressed between her thighs and pussy, letting out long, thick ropes of cum onto the prizes behind her. He plastered them with his seed as he gripped her tight ass and hung on for dear life. After all, he had masturbated before but this felt entirely different. It was so much more violent and visceral as he brought his face down, nuzzling into her breasts as he continued to shake, more and more cum coming out as he let himself just keep thrusting between her legs, each hump helping more to come out and paint the wall behind Switch.

Once he was finally done he panted and leaned back, his back against the counter as she continued to stand there. He could feel sweat pouring down his brow and he tried to clear some as he took her in one more time. Took in that thick ass, toned thighs, and that heavy bosom. That bosom that made him shiver still. He couldn’t keep it though, not now at least, but he could take it with him in another way. Yeah, a quick picture with his phone and he could keep this memory for good. Or, well, maybe use it as a reminder to come back when he was ready to be even more brazen with what he did with a girl.

But, once he had his picture, he tried, and failed, to get her bra back on, pulled her shirt down, and then hopped back over the counter without taking anymore tokens than he’d already had. After all, his mind was a little too drunk with this new game to worry about an old one. To really worry about anything, something he hadn’t been able to do for a long time now. He did need to get ready to go though, something he did by stuffing the bra into his backpack, slinging it over his shoulder, and dashing towards the door. From there he clicked the stopwatch to, hopefully, let time start again and see what exactly happened to Switch.

And it was far more than he expected. Her body straightened up as if hit by lightning, her obviously gasping as she shook a little, before she put her hands on the counter, her lips pursed in as her face became flushed with color for the first time he’d ever seen. It all finished, in about maybe fifteen seconds, with her collapsing and screaming out a long, heavy moan, panting against the glass of the counter as her entire body shook and spasmed from what he had done.

And Button… Button knew he hadn’t actually done as much to her as he could have. He made her cum from just a little play, all brought together all at once in fifteen seconds. What would happen if he ate a girl out? If he fucked them? That… Was that the next point in the game that he was supposed to go to? Or was this not what Faust wanted? But she looked so happy as she panted there too.

What… What exactly was he supposed to do now?


Author's Note

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