Like Play?

Like Play?
A green circle wakes up. Whirring of a plastic disk read by lasers. On a fifty-five inch TV screen, light makes the living room greenish. Put on your headset, adjust the microphone. Flip through your friends menu. [808] 13EAST is online. He spells out “beast” in gamertext. You don’t understand but you smile. Send a voice message.
“Hello?”
“Boo! Jonathan!”
“What,” he says. He breathes deep, like when he was a baby, your hands wrapped tightly around his one-year-old ribs.
“Play?”
“Shoots. Okay.”
Weeks later you shake. Afraid to touch the green circle, knowing he can’t play anymore.