August 25th, 2019
A/N: This is for a Sanders Sides gamer AU we've been working on! So far, Pippin's only got Virgil drawn, but we're planning out the others so they can make comics! The game they're gonna be playing is Overwatch, so if you don't know it, it might be a bit confusing for you, but I'll try my best to give a basic explanation for characters if I think it's necessary.
Virgil enjoyed video games. Some of them calmed him down after a rough panic attack. Others were a nice distraction from his overbearing problems. However, there were some that drove him absolutely mad sometimes.
He liked team based game play, but there was something about his bad luck with Overwatch that made him unusually mad. Typically good about keeping his temper in check, it was surprising to him how much it had ruined his mood when he lost several games in a row. He supposed that it was part of the trade off with team based games. As fun as it was to have a good team and win, there were going to be times where you got stuck with a bad team and lost.
It didn't exactly help Virgil's case that he was a sniper main. He played Widowmaker, a hero dedicated to having lethal accuracy with her sniper rifle and ultimate ability that granted infrared vision.
A good Widowmaker could drastically change the game, able to pick off several heroes with a single shot to each.
Unfortunately, a bad Widowmaker had just as much impact, causing the team to be short one of their damage dealers because their poor abilities prevented anything from coming of their position on the team.
Virgil was a good Widowmaker. It could be argued that he was a fantastic Widowmaker, but he would never truly admit to his skills. This was because of the insecurities caused by the stigma around the hero. Though he had a mic attached to his gaming headset, he never spoke in the team chat. He felt that he could listen to the people who did speak and respond with the game's prerecorded replies. He kept quiet because he didn't like the sound of his voice and because there wasn't really much to say when three members of the team are accusing him of throwing the game on purpose or not being very good. It was a nice feeling when they acknowledged that they were wrong, but he didn't always receive that luxury.
It was because he never spoke in team chat that he hadn't found a group of people to play with consistently. Playing competitive by yourself was never a smart move considering you wouldn't be able to tell what your teammates' play styles are. You can't just assume they'll save you if you're in trouble.
He was getting pretty tired of playing alone, but fortunately, the universe heard his thoughts.
One afternoon, he was solo queuing in competitive and came across a group of three other people on his team. He sighed, assuming they wouldn't even bother to check if anyone was in the team chat. "Hey! Anyone in team chat?" a cheerful voice spoke, making his head jerk up. One of the group's members had selected Mercy and they were standing right in front of him in game. He quickly replied with a 'Hello' in game to show that he'd heard him. "Oh! Can you hear us? That's great!"
"Yes, that shall be helpful for developing a strategy," a much calmer voice agreed.
"I hope you're a good Widow dude cause I don't like having to rely only on my awesome skills to get kills," another voice said, sounding much more confident and cocky. Virgil rolled his eyes at his comment, replying with an 'Acknowledged' voice line. "Oh cool, you actually responded to that, I'll take that as a good sign."
He smiled a little; at least these guys didn't just assume he wasn't a good Widowmaker. Sure, the third guy had expressed concern, but not really any doubt. This was a nice change. He made a mental note to friend the three of them if this turned out well.