Humming a sweet little folk song, Tino smiled proudly at the clean room around him and began wrapping up the vacuum cleaner's cord. Finally, all of the housework he had been meaning to do for the past week was done. With his living space finally organized and sparkling, Tino knew he could relax at last.

After storing away the vacuum cleaner in its closet, Tino strolled down to the cozy den where he and Berwald spent most of their time when unwinding at home.

"I hope there's something good on right now," Tino murmured, grabbing the remote for the television and flopping down on the couch. Tino and Berwald had recently splurged and bought themselves a massive television that took up almost an entire wall of their small den space. Tino hadn't really had much time yet to appreciate it, so he found himself content to flip through channels for a while and admire the different pictures on the big screen. However, Tino quickly grew tired of scanning through channels only to find that there was nothing on that really caught his attention. Groaning, he got up to see if there was a movie in his collection that he could put in instead.

Along with the new television, Berwald had insisted on buying a grand new entertainment center to match. The gargantuan piece of furniture was very sleek and new age, seeming to take up much less space than it actually did. Unfortunately for Tino, he had been at work while Berwald put it together, so he had no real idea of where anything had been stowed away.

Heading for the right side of the entertainment center, where the movies had been arranged in the past, Tino looked around the cabinet for a moment, trying to figure out how to open it. Finally, with a simple press on the top corner of the door, the compartment opened. Tino mentally patted himself on the back for his cleverness, then looked around on the shelves for a movie he might like. Small LED riggings on the bottom of each shelf made it easy to read the title of every case in the cabinet. However, Tino quickly realized that he was not looking through his movie collection, but had instead stumbled upon Berwald's impressive gaming store.

Tino let out a disappointed harrumph and began straightening up to close the cabinet door. Before he was completely upright, however, something out of uniform caught his attention. Every game in the cubby had been arranged beautifully, organized in alphabetical order and by console type, with room on each shelf for new additions to the collection as they came. What had managed to catch Tino's eye was one game that had not yet been sorted in with the rest. It seemed to have been tossed haphazardly into the cabinet, perhaps after Berwald came home from a long day at work, and was resting on a shelf so that the cover was face up.

Intrigued, Tino reached out to pick up the case. It had an attractive cover design, with beautiful art and a simple name that made his spine shiver with anticipation. Tino flipped the case and made quick work of reading the brief description on the back. Tino was immediately inspired to play the game. It had been far too long since he had the time or energy to really let himself enjoy a new game, and there was no way he was going to let this opportunity pass him by. Hopefully Berwald wouldn't mind too much if he borrowed the disc for a while. After all, the Swede did get a little annoyed sometimes if Tino played one of his new games, especially if he played it before Berwald had even gotten the chance to do so himself.

Dashing around the den, Tino shut off all the lights, threw the disc into the appropriate console, turned up the volume on the television to an outrageous level, surrounded himself with blankets and pillows, and pulled out the unhealthiest combination of drinks and snacks he could find. After all, he wanted to make sure he enjoyed the experience as much as possible.

Berwald rolled his shoulders and loosened his tie as he stepped into his home. He was mildly confused at first when he didn't smell dinner cooking or hear Tino clinking about in the kitchen. After all, his sweet little lover had sent him a text message earlier in the day to make sure Berwald would be home in time for the dinner he had planned.

Berwald shrugged as he took off his shoes and put his keys away. Perhaps Tino had changed his mind and they would order takeout or hit one of their favorite restaurants instead. As he walked further into the house to call out to Tino, Berwald heard loud noises coming from the den. Perhaps Tino was just enjoying the new television and had gotten carried away.

Berwald grinned, ready to catch his lover slacking off and punish him for it with a violent attack of hugs and kisses that would leave him breathless and begging for mercy. As he approached the den, however, his devilish grin disappeared as he caught the sounds of muffled sobbing.

Instantly Berwald's mood swerved from playful to frantic as he trotted into the den to see what the matter was. Tino, his precious Tino, was curled on his side on the couch, tightly wrapped in at least three fleecy blankets and backed by enormous pillows. There was a small pile of snack bags littering the floor and several empty soda cans. Tino had a game controller clutched tightly in his hands, his knuckles white from the force of his grip. Tears were streaming down his cheeks, his face was contorted in rage and distress. Loud battle cries and the shrieks of metal clashing against metal blared from the surround sound system as Tino's character on screen was viciously taken out by an enemy.

As the screen blackened out to announce Tino's death, the small Fin let out an enraged scream and began thrashing around on the couch.

"Why can't I get past this part!" He shrieked, throwing himself around, "I can't beat this stupid floor and I don't know what I'm doing wrong and I can't believe I'm such a loser and I just want to get to the next city and slay the hydra there before I lose more money from this quest but I can't because I'm an idiot and I can't figure out how this stupid game WORKS!" Tino's tone quickly escalated to pure fury as he ranted about the game. His shoulders were shaking from the force of his rage and his breath was coming in erratic bursts here and there.

Berwald's eyes widened as he took in the scene before him. Tino had gotten worked up in the past over games that he enjoyed playing, but Berwald had never seen him so upset. He had no idea what to do, but he knew he had to act before Tino hurt himself.

"T'no, pl'se calm d'wn," Berwald murmured as he strode across the room to take Tino into his arms. Tino, however, was having none of it.

"Don't you DARE tell me to calm down! I won't! I can't deal with this stupid game anymore! All I'm good at is dying!" Tino squirmed away from Berwald as he approached, unwilling to let the man touch him while he was so worked up.

Berwald sighed, then noticed which game Tino was playing. It was a game that he had just recently purchased, but was already quite familiar with. He knew at once what Tino's problem was and why he was unable to advance through the particular dungeon he had entered.

"T'no, l've, I c'n help ya if ya need," he offered, sitting on the couch as close as he could to his lover without scaring him off, "I kn'w wh't ya need t' do t' g't through th's d'ng'n."

Tino instantly snapped into a completely different person. At once, he was sitting upright and cuddled close to Berwald's side. He shoved the controller into his lover's hands. "Well for heck's sake show me what to do! Just get me through this part so I can go kill the hydra!"

Berwald smiled, and despite protestations from Tino, managed to give his frenzied lover a few sweet kisses on the cheek as he began setting things up so that Tino could get through the dungeon. As it turned out, all Tino had needed was a certain sword and a slightly higher defense level.

"Let me do it, let me do it!" Tino cried out, fumbling for the controller as Berwald approached the proper quest to earn the sword.

Berwald laughed and handed over the controller without a fight. He did, however, pull Tino into his lap and hold him close as he played. He loved watching Tino play video games just as much as he enjoyed playing them himself. It was fascinating to see how Tino picked up strategies and maneuvered his way through gaming worlds. Not to mention, Tino was a completely different person when gaming. He somehow transformed from the sweet, polite, loving person that Berwald knew into a violent, swearing, adrenaline fueled monster.

Quite some time later, Tino finally returned to the dungeon that had been giving him so much trouble earlier and made quick work of it. When he was through the dungeon after only one try, Tino sat with the controller loosely held in his hands. His face was blank and he looked entirely numb.

"T'no?" Berwald asked, gently placing a hand on the smaller man's shoulder, "'re ya alr'ght?"

Tino let out a loud whoop of joy and twisted around in Berwald's arms. The force of Tino's reaction threw Berwald back on the couch, leaving Tino pinning him down with a fierce hug.

"I did it!" Tino cried, his shout muffled due to the fact that he had shoved his face into the crook of Berwald's neck.

Berwald laughed and celebrated with his lover, holding Tino close and congratulating him.

"T'no, I'm really pr'd 'f ya," Berwald said, hugging his lover tightly, "B't b'fore ya go ta beat th' hydr', c'n we h've someth'n ta eat?" Berwald's innocent question was immediately punctuated by a loud grumble from his stomach.

Tino gasped and leapt up. "Oh my God! I completely forgot about dinner! And it's already so late! What am I gonna do! Oh no, Ber, I'm so sorry! Oh I've been such an idiot sitting here and obsessing over this game while you're basically wasting away after a long day at work and-"

Berwald grinned at his lover's distress, stood, and silenced him with a sweet kiss. "T'no, 'm j'st gl'd I got ta be w'th ya," he murmured, "'nd b'sides, I w's k'ind of in th' mood f'r t'keout 'nyw'y. I w'nt ta see ya t'ke on th' hydr'."

Tino's eyes misted slightly at the total sweetness and loving tone Berwald used to address him.

"I love you more than life itself," Tino reminded Berwald, giving him a deep kiss. "Now, if you're gonna watch me play this game for the rest of the night, you better go change your clothes and come back to the den with way more junk food. I'll order in some pizza."

Berwald grinned, gave Tino one last squeeze, and went to do as he was told. As he heard the sounds of Tino scurrying about to prepare for their lazy evening, Berwald thought about how lucky he really was to have such a wonderful man in his life. Then he heard screaming and battle cries from the den that sent shivers up his spine, and reminded himself to also never, ever, not on his life, get on Tino's bad side.

Hey all! Hope you enjoyed this one, I know it's been forever since I posted last and I'm obviously getting rusty. This same fic can be found on my AO3 and Tumblr accounts under the same title and username. Feel free to critique it or tell me if you enjoyed it, and as always I am open to future suggestions!