Archive of Our Own

Chapter Text

Cool, you have gained a new gaming buddy, or grinding buddy. You don't exactly know how long this would last; you've had your own encounters back then of making online friends and just forgetting each other after a day or so. People on the internet were surprisingly needy for attention; just a second of your time being directed elsewhere would be an immediate friendship turn-off for them.

But even if this was just for a short time, it would be okay. At least you weren't alone in this now. Without Coolguy95, you'd probably be back in your bed wrapped around the comforts of your blankets. And that didn't sound half bad at all, actually, but you had to at least satiate your human need for social interaction.

For the time being, you were more than content to simply leech off Coolguy95.

Well, okay, leech was a bit harsh, certainly not the most flattering term you could have chosen, but it was accurate enough. Online friendships sometimes had a nasty habit of feeling like a full-time job with zero benefits, not to diss your closest friends (which were online), but some bad experiences you've had on the many years you've been on the internet.

You mean it in a lighthearted way, not in any way to anticipate this awkward silence between you two. He wasn't moving; you weren't moving. Both of your avatars were just looking at each other.

Or maybe he wasn't a human at all? Shit, it looks like you just made a really insensitive joke. If they really were a monster, you just assumed he was, based on his human race in-game and his name literally being 'Coolguy95'. But cool guys can't just be humans; they could be monsters as well, oh God. You'd feel like such an asshole if he were a monster right now.

You've been so used to being around humans; the emergence of monsters was a revelation to the human race, who just pushed it aside as nonsensical writings on the wall made in ancient times to depict the monsters of nature they fought against, like woolly mammoths and all that.

Not thinking of it as ever being real, or the possibility of them actually existing. They only existed in the back of your head, resurfacing ever so often with fantasy topics and all that.

And now that they were real… you surprisingly had no problems with them, nor did you interact with monsters much. You lived in the Big Apple, after all. Most of the monsters that emerged from Mount Ebbot mostly still stayed there, but they were starting to live outside of the tiny world they used to know, you’ve seen a few of them out in the public.

You honestly thought you would be the tiniest bit scared of them, remembering the grotesque depictions of ‘monsters’ in media, but seeing them on the big screen and sometimes on the streets, you realized they were just like humans. Even if they were a little bigger or a little bigger, they still had ambitions and passions the same as humans.

Way different from how humans portrayed them. In a way, it helped you accept and learn to live with this fascinating discovery as if it was something ordinary.

It had only been recently that monsters began to integrate themselves into human society. Because at first, monster prejudice was at an all-time high when they first came to the surface. Now humans just tolerated them? You weren't so sure, but you knew there weren't any anti-monster protests being held on the street much.

And surprisingly, a lot of advocates for monsters were on Twitter, probably because of their more open-minded selves.

You have read a Twitter thread or two about opinions on the monsters, and most of them were actually positive. Most of the people who spoke against monsters were openly flamed and dogged on, probably working its hateful magic as well.

"Maybe I shouldn't have said that..." You mumbled, cringing at your own words. Looking at your screen in terror, not daring to touch the keyboard to move. You had made such a dick move without even knowing. "I probably look like such an assho-"

Good thing you didn't unknowingly hurt the guy's feelings. 

Well... Even if he did deflect on it a bit too hard, it didn't raise any red flags; maybe he was just an awkward guy, you were too so you couldn’t really blame ‘em. You couldn't blame him for that; that's why the internet was there, for socially inept people to create a community they felt safe in.

A snort escaped you, a soft grin tugging at the corners of your lips as your eyes scanned the text in the chatbox. There really was no denying it; this guy was an absolute dork. But you meant that in the most affectionate and weirdly endearing way.

Because you recognized a kindred soul when you saw one. You were honestly just as much of a dork yourself. His dramatic flair might've gotten a raised eyebrow from anyone else, but for you? It was actually a little charming. You let it slide with an amused shake of your head.

You waited for a minute, two, even three minutes for him to respond. Did you swat him away with your horrendous pun? You didn't think it was that bad, but 'Coolguy95' might've. You were never much of a pun maker, you were a pun enjoyer though, just didn’t know how to make them, or when it was best for them to be made!

And… these unprompted silences were getting to you; you wondered what your new buddy could've been doing behind that screen.

You followed your new friend out of the forest, your eyes always wandering across the screen. Maybe you were being a little bit paranoid, but you would rather be safe than sorry. Making your way out was surprisingly easy- a solid five minutes. Honestly, maybe more, because you two did get sidetracked by a lot of things in the forest, being both new to the game, and Coolguy95 seemed to be fascinated by absolutely anything that was out of the ordinary. It made you wonder.

Coolguy95 almost always expressed what was closest to being called 'childlike wonder' whenever you two came across something that seemed relatively normal to see in a video game. For example, everything. The guy was an absolute yappatron, but you didn't mind, continuing to listen to whatever he had to say, although he was silly at times.

He still seemed mature, so you doubted that you were playing with an actual child; you'd hope not. Eh, whatever, it wasn't in character for you to think about the people you were playing with off-screen.

You had made it back to the town square relatively safely. The guy you were with stood still for a second, presumably chatting with his friend about where you were. You analyzed his avatar a little closer.

You didn't find many differences between his avatar and the starting chibi you were given. Except for the white hair that often poked out of his helm headpiece. And he also wore starting knight gear; one of the perks of picking a fighter class was the advantage you'd get in early game.

Maybe you should've picked an easier class after all. But it's a little too late for that; you'd found yourself a friend through your little healing problem. Not even taking this game seriously, it was okay; you'd just let it play out.

And a good challenge was good, a healthy thing that works for your head, they say, to stimulate your brain and all that. Taking things the easy way wasn't always the best; you doubted it was this deep in a video game of all things.

A new person had approached the two of you. Another human avatar wearing paladin armour, with a palette that consisted mostly of blue and a side of grey; you didn't expect to meet so many humans here; this was a more monster-populated game, you would assume. But at the same time, you didn't really expect to meet anyone other than your friends. And birds of a feather do flock together, so it made some sort of sense.

Blue seemed just as enthusiastic as Coolguy95 did, but he seemed a little surprised that his friend had made a friend so quickly. Were they as awkward as you? Well, not 'awkward'; they actually seemed way more approachable, with their energetic selves and everything. You really shouldn't project.

Fingers clacking against the keyboard faster than you could think of what to properly type. What. The. Hell. "Hi I'm healer???" Your nerves took charge of you as you groaned. "Who even says that? What kind of name is healer? I don't know any healer. Who names themselves healer?" How many times have you said healer already? Even online, you couldn't think before you texted.

The three of you just stood there; your chibi stood motionless, and the other two faced you. On the other side, you were embarrassed out of your wits, head in hands.

Okay, if this was gonna be your online name here, your literal class... You just had to go with it, no longer having the energy and accepting your fate; you wouldn't mind being called healer. You slowly lifted your head up; it wasn't that much of a weird name. Coolguy95 wasn't even technically a name, and Blue was named after a literal colour, Blue.

Considering how many names you've already been through online, especially when you were in your teen days, aliases would come and go; healer would just be another one in the batch.

You honestly died a little inside, but it was whatever. You now had a decent team with Cool Guy, which was what you were going to refer to him as. You weren't really sure what his name was, but he was a cool guy. And Blue, because he's blue? And that was probably what he wanted to be called; it was in his gamertag. And you, healer, the healer- what a powerhouse you three were.

Turning to the internet for friends. Where have you heard that before?

You hummed to the game's OST; it was really calming, a soft tune ringing in your ears as you followed Blue to what he said would be a dungeon that was in the range of your and Cool Guy's level.

They had... burnt food as their profile pictures; it reminded you that you didn't pick one yet, but that wasn't as important right now- just the concerning profiles of food burnt to oblivion. A weird... taste in pfps? Yet you've come across weirder; the internet is truly a bizarre place. But at least they didn't seem like weirdos; they were bronies, but not all bronies were bad.

MLP was still relatively popular, especially with the new rendition coming soon, which sounded like hot ass, but you knew the fandom would absolutely thrive with new content of their favourites, and you had a little bit of hope that it would turn out good, somehow. You wondered how your new friends would think about it; if they even knew about it, since they were relatively new, you could ask later. If they gave you their socials.

"Shills? What are those?" You whispered to yourself, tapping the fingers of your free hand against your desk.

Surprisingly, the three of you had good chemistry with each other, both socially and in-game. Working together as a well-functioning party, having little to no problems except your lack of game knowledge, but you still tried your best to grind up to their level. Coolguy95 adapted pretty easily to the mechanics of the game.

Blue stayed in front, protecting the two of you who were still pretty squishy, becoming the tank that could still pack a punch, especially if the enemies got too close. With Papyrus becoming the DPS, he dealt a decent amount of damage, which increased with every level spike; he was the one levelling up the fastest, which did make you get a little envious- but you still bumped up a few levels as well.

Healing Blue every chance you got, you got a LOT of XP, even when there were a few close calls, because of your limited mana pool at a low level. Fortunately, Blue checked up on you and didn't let himself get hit recklessly just because there was a healer on the team.

You were practically screaming every time he was on low HP, his health practically on its last breath while your skill was still on cooldown; thank the stars he was extremely communicative and even gave you some tips about your class that you weren't sure how he knew. And Papyrus always kept your hopes up high whenever you did some misplays, something that was inevitable because you were still a beginner.

That good team spirit and healthy party chemistry led you to have a hearty smile on your face while playing with these guys; you learned a decent amount about them as well, while you admittedly didn't share much about yourself and your situation, but they never really asked, so there was nothing to really blame.

The three of you just stood outside the dungeon you just cleared together, recovering from the harder enemies you faced, as you and Coolguy levelled up; the limits of what dungeons you could fight weren't as restricted. This game had a variety of enemies that were designed to be terrifying and piqued your interest, gaining bits of lore after every fight.

You wondered how monsters felt about fighting... monsters. But in the game, they were referred to as creatures, and it was a different spin from other games you've played where the enemies would immediately be aggravated if you got too near them; this game would make you engage first: encounters; the closest example you could relate it to was encounters from Pokemon.

Still, you always had to end up fighting them, the fastest way of levelling up. But these encounters always had bits of dialogue that made you feel way more immersed in the game.

And playing with other people made it so much more fun. It surprised you how fast you clicked with these two; making friends, especially in this day and age, seemed to be harder and harder with the times changing and everything happening in the world. You were honestly way too busy and tired.

No wonder you only had three friends that stayed close, but hey, if these two stayed, you could add two to that number. And you actually... wouldn't mind some change in your small circle; the thought actually made you a little warm inside. Time seemed to pass quicker than you anticipated. How long have you been playing with these goofballs?

The three of you made a quick run to a safe zone to teleport to the square before they left.

You made your avatar do an emote of a wave goodbye as you sighed. How long had it been since you started playing? Your eyes hovered to the left corner of your monitor to check the time; your sights had barely ever flickered towards there.

You had hardly glanced in that direction all day. Now seeing that it was already an hour past leaving, you had been so caught up in the game that you missed lunch completely, and now that you finally remembered that hunger, it bit you like how much you wanted to bite into some food right now.

"I really need something to eat right now..." You laid your head on your desk. "A chicken sandwich sounds so good." Your stomach took control of your mind, even grumbling a few words of its own as you patted it. Grabbing your phone, which had been forgotten on the side of your desk until now. You apparently had a few unread notifications from Discord.

Wow, you'd been too lost to pay attention to any notifications on your phone? Then again, you did have headphones on, so it made sense. Letting out a soft sigh as you flipped through your phone to make it to a delivery app, not having the energy to make food right now.

You wondered if Coolguy was making banger food right now; he was apparently in charge of making dinner, even if he was banned somehow. Why were you even thinking of that guy right now? Hunger can really make a person go mad. You quickly logged out of the game, following your two newly acquainted friends that you clicked with well.

Tapping away at your phone, you had ordered two chicken sandwiches for yourself with a side of fries and a Coke. Nothing real fancy, just something to quiet your sudden hunger. The delivery still a whole 20 minutes away; the thought of food on the way made your stomach feel at least a little satisfied.

You again settled your head onto the cool surface of your desk. Letting out a long, quiet sigh slip past your lips as exhaustion pulled at your eyelids from how long you were staring at screens the entire day.

Ding!

Well, chatting with your friends would be more productive than sleeping at your desk. And you honestly missed them quite a bit.

You laughed, feeling the weariness strip from your body as you talked to Mayo. You wondered for a second where the others were; they must've been busy or tired from the things they did today. Today was fulfilling, compared to the things you usually do on a weekend. Consisting of bed rotting, bed rotting anddd... bed rotting.

Humans were built for connection, wired to seek out company even when they claimed to prefer solitude. Maybe that was why there was a sense of contentment settling over you. Feeling a little lighter than usual, your mind feeling rested, and your heart feeling full.

Your stomach, on the other hand, was honestly a completely different story. A rumble broke through the silence of your room, and you broke out into a cold sweat with the second-hand embarrassment you felt for yourself, even if no one was watching. You glanced towards the time on your phone.

Watching the minutes slowly tick by on your phone screen. Every second was agonizingly slow, knowing that there was a good fifteen minutes left before the delivery driver made their way to your apartment. "Ugh..." You shifted in your chair, resting your chin on your arms as you waited very impatiently for your order.