Chapter Text
Ganji Gupta is one son of a bitch.
And that's saying something given Norton was quite one himself.
Ganji has always has a way with his flowery words, especially when the two would get into a heated argument after a rough match. The batter always- always, knew what to say that would make Norton pissed to the point of swinging his fist. Now, Norton wasn't a person who'd just get violent so easily. He preferred to settle things by talking it out, even if things would only get worse after. If not, he prefers to ignore the person until both had cooled down.
But Gupta just doesn't get the hint, or he's being this deliberately annoying.
Actually, when the male had first come into the manor, he had a good opinion on him. Even if his face gave him an intimidating, cold aura, once you actually talked to him, he can be quite extroverted. He and Ganji even got a long quite well, given both were friends with William and Naib. Although Norton didn't talk much to the batter, he didn't treat him like a stranger.
But one particular match turned their relationship tense.
They were up against Wu Chang, and the hunter seemed to be in a good mood. Just within 1 popped cipher he had easily downed Luca and Martha, chairing the rescuer first and camped.
With only he and Ganji left to help their teammates, Norton decided to head to the coordinator since he carried tide that match. He was trying to rescue without getting hit, but who would've thought Ganji would also be in the area. He helped Norton out, and while Wu Chang was stunned, he quickly rescued Martha.
Things were going well actually, but just as Norton was body blocking for Martha, he tossed a magnet in hopes to stun the hunter- but he didn't expect that he attracted Ganji instead.
And then, everything went to chaos.
Ganji was attracted towards the walls, and Wu Chang took the opportunity of his dazed state to hit him. Ganji immediately ran away, but who would've thought he got another one of Norton's magnets. As he got near to the prospector for healing, he was instead repelled- right towards the hunter.
To cut it short, they were all sent back to the manor, and Ganji was pissed.
Although both sides had faults, Norton couldn't help but blame it mostly on Ganji for sticking around instead of quickly leaving to decode. He was a capable survivor; he could do well without his help. But he just had to be around and got caught up and blamed him?
Ganji was running his mouth off to Norton, telling him how idiotic he was and how he shouldn't be so careless. Norton scoffed, telling the batter to piss off and be aware if his own stupid actions as well.
Needless to say, they had to be patched extra by Emily after their fight.
From then on, they would always try and find fault at each other, try to one up each other as possible and blame each other for any minor inconvenience. Even if William tried to act mediator, once they both run their mouths you could only try and stop them when they raise their fists.
Norton tried- keyword, tried - avoiding Ganji just so he could have some peace of mind after matches. But like a patroller, he'd always latch unto him and chew his leg off. Annoying and an inconvenience.
But fate seemed to like toying them since they'd somehow always be matched 3 out of 5 matches every day. And each and every match they'd always argue with another that other survivors simply let them be and focused on their own being. Getting in between them is the last thing you want to happen.
It was last match of the day, and it was already late at night. Norton wasn't a fan of late night matches due to how long it takes for the hunter to sit down and match with them (And, as far as he's concerned, they're more active at night, but why do they always take so long?), but since tomorrow was his day off, he decided to push himself.
It's just that, he had been in a bad mood since this morning because of his nightmares. He just couldn't get a wink of sleep that and this affected his performances at matches. Almost every match there was someone who'd be angry at him and vent their frustrations, but the tired prospector would just dismiss them with a cold glare and leave without a care.
Good thing it was the last match, because if he'd have to wake up at 4 AM to participate in a match he'd rip his hair off and ask Andrew to bury him alive.
Norton grumbled, planting his face on the table as his shoulders slumped. He was waiting for the arrival of his other teammates. He didn't even bother looking at the list to see who he was teamed with since he simply just want the match to end quick. Not caring whether they'd win or lose.
He heard the door opened, footsteps entering as chattering filled the silence of the waiting room. But the chattering ceased once they saw the prospector slumped over the table looking… dead?
"Mr. Campbell, are you alright?" The first one to break the silence was Emma, moving to the prospector with concern to check if he was still breathing. Norton sat upright, a scowl evident on his face, as Emma poked on his miner hat. The gardener blinked her round eyes, sighing in relief, "So you're not dead yet".
A scoff from behind the girl as the chair scraped loudly against the floor, "With how he is, he might as well be," That voice whom he didn't want to hear tonight moved closer to Emma, snorting, "Just leave him be Emma, he's been scolded left and right today he might just snap at you".
Emma nodded towards Ganji, lowering her head and went to her seat, "Don't worry Mr. Campbell, everyone has their bad days".
The last person who moved was Naib who, although concerned for Norton, sat in his chair and knew not to bother with the prospector right now. He simply nodded his head in acknowledgement towards the man. Ganji and Emma was immersed in their talk once again as they wait for the hunter to arrive.
Norton's patience was on very thin ice. But for the sake of himself and others, he kept his mouth shut, only uttering words on acknowledgement.
From the corner of his eye, as Ganji conversed with Emma about various topics, he examined the prospector's current state and moves. It really seemed like he had it bad today, and just wanted to head to bed already. Ganji silently huffed, turning his attention to the gardener who began to talk about various ways of planting seeds. No, he wasn't worried about Norton, why should he? He was simply concerned whether this man can even function as the match goes on.
Thankfully the hunter soon sat their chair, and the match had then begun.
Norton slowly opened his eyes and looked around his surroundings. They were currently at Red Church, and given it was night time, it only made the surroundings more eerie. Spawning near the shack where the broken walls were, Norton dusted off his clothes before he went up to the cipher machine and started to decode. He quickly pinged his 3% cipher progress, Naib and Emma's pings soon came after as well. And since there was nothing from the batter, he could only assume he's the one getting chased as of now.
But before Norton's cipher had reach 70%, a loud chime echoed throughout the map, indicating that Ganji had been hit. What's worse was he could hear his faint heart beat loudly and fast, meaning the hunter was approaching his way quick.
He turned to run away and give Ganji space to kite, accidentally bumping into the person himself that he was frozen for a few moments. Ganji didn't spare him a glance as he ran away, not before he quickly told him, "Get out of here!".
Perhaps fatigue had already taken over him, because it took Norton a few seconds before he could react properly. And by then, he felt blades slashing behind him.
Norton cried out in pain, his legs finally working as he began to run away. Jack chuckled behind him, a sinister aura around the tall man, "What's this? Little Norton seems to be distracted~" He then began chasing the clearly tired prospector, feeling rather happy with his messed-up state, "It's alright, I can help you rest~".
"Fuck off!" Norton threw a magnet towards Jack, sending the hunter to a wall that temporarily stunned him. Norton didn't stop running, intending to head towards the other broken walls with an intention to play mind games with the Ripper.
What he didn't expect, as soon as he passed by the locker, a hand had reached out to him and yanked him inside, shutting close the metal doors quickly and placed a hand over his mouth. With the cramped space, it was hard for Norton to even adjust himself before Ganji pressed his body against him. He leaned close and gestured to be silent, his eyebrows furrowed, "I told you to get out, didn't I? I already pinged where I was near and yet you stubbornly stayed in place? The hell is wrong with you Campbell?" He said in a hushed tone,
At this point Norton simply snapped. He slapped away Ganji's hand, glaring furiously at the batter, as his fists clenched, “The fuck is wrong with you! You're the one who decided to head towards my way when I've almost finished my cipher! We could've already popped 3 ciphers, but no you just had to stroll and lead the hunter to me! You fucking eyesore-" before Norton could even finish his string of curses, Ganji placed his hand once again on Norton's mouth to keep him silent as their hearts began to softly beat," Shut the fuck up Campbell. Unless you want Jack to find you, just stay still for a while until he leaves".
Norton didn't care at this point; he was just so tired he didn't care if Jack chaired him first. As their heart beats thumped louder, He grabbed Ganji's wrist, prying away his hand from his mouth, "You-! Can't you just leave me alone for on-"
It was unknown what dawned over to Ganji, but he didn't want to deal with the pillow prince's tantrums while Jack was trying to find him and the prospector. And seeing Norton just so unwilling to cooperate, he gritted his teeth and shut him up with his mouth instead. Both of them were stunned by Ganji's actions.
Norton immediately began to struggle that the locker was creating noises. He could see the red light nearing them, and Ganji pressed himself more against the prospector, pining his hand in place as he deepened the kiss. The prospector kept his mouth shut tight, but given the current space he couldn't do much to push off the batter off him.
The space between them made it hard for the batter to move closer to Norton. Ganji's leg then shifted between Norton's legs to support himself, making the prospector let out a noise of surprise. Jack's humming stopped, his head turned curiously to where he thought the sound might be and slowly approached the locker.
The more Norton struggled, the more Ganji tired keeping him in place. With no way to get out, Norton harshly bit on Ganji's lips that made the batter pull away in an instant. The prospector was relieved, even go far as to mock the batter with his eyes as he watched Ganji wipe the blood off his lips.
As the two stared each other down with a glare, an unknown emotion stirred inside Norton. Their faces were so close to each other they were practically exchanging breaths as they heaved. Their hearts were still beating loudly, but now it was wilder than it was before.
Ganji's eyes lowered to Norton's lips. He didn't think this idiot would have such soft lips.
Their eyes met again, and this time everything simply just happened without thought. Ganji aggressively pressed his mouth against Norton's, to which the other replied by tilting his head to kiss him deeper. They parted for a few seconds, before they dived back in.
Ganji, although wasn't as experienced, was simply driven by his emotions to kiss this male that he greedily pried open his mouth more. Norton sounded disagreement, but as soon as the batter's tongue wrapped around his, his knees were simply shaking. Ganji pressed his knee against the prospector's crotch as he "ate" his mouth, tasting every inch of Norton's mouth as much as he could.
They haven't even noticed that Jack was now long gone, or rather, they were preoccupied in their own little world.
As heat in their bodies start to rise, so did other things. Ganji could feel something harden against his leg, and to stimulate Norton further he rubbed his knee on his crotch. The prospector let out a low moan, and Ganji could've sworn something inside him clicked. It was then Ganji's hands began to grope around Norton's built chest, and Norton took this chance to entangle his hands around the batter's hair and hungrily lapped his tongue inside the male's mouth.
Unconsciously Norton started to grind himself against the batter's leg, sweet, sweet friction made him shudder in pleasure and groaned. Ganji's hands were dangerous exploring further down, but given the lack of space between them it was quite hard to move around. But that didn't stop them-
The loud chime of Naib getting hit did though.
The two immediately separated, panting and heaving hard. Their eyes met, but soon looked away as their cheeks turned red.
It was Norton who first moved, opening the locker and stepped out with shaky legs, breathing in the cold air of the night. The tent in his pants was still quite visible, but the prospector pretended nothing was going on and straightened himself, "Tha…Th… I-I need to finish my cipher," He muttered, clearly avoiding the batter's (concerned? would he even call that concerned?) gaze. Without even bothering to listen on what the batter was about to say, Norton began to walk away. Ganji who was about to patch up the wounded prospector let his raised hand fall against the side, quietly deciding to focus on decoding.
Luckily the gardener was on Norton's cipher. And as soon as Norton arrived the light of the machine flickered, indicating it was a finished cipher. Emma turned to the injured man, her eyes widened slightly before looking away, "Well look who's rather… roughed up… " She was rather very blind at the moment, definitely didn't see anything, "I thought Mr. Gupta thought to heal you when Ripper turned to tunnel Naib instead…"
Norton didn't bother explaining. His embarrassed, flushed face and the- ahem- problem was still rather visible it was easy for people to assume. Emma didn't dawdle any further and began to heal the prospector's injury, and thankfully the batter's cipher was nearing half.
Although there was awkward silence between them, at least Emma didn't bother asking anymore questions. As soon as she finished healing him, Norton stood up, clearing his throat, "T-Thank you, Emma. I'll… I'll go start on another cipher," He muttered, tipped his hat, and left the gardener to decode another cipher. Emma stood there a bit dumbfounded, deciding to keep quiet about what she saw. There were a few things going on her mind, but she silently nodded, deciding to head towards Ganji and help him out.
But although she sort of expected it, she still couldn't help but stifle a giggle seeing the batter's current state.
Ganji pretended that Emma didn't exist, even if the girl came up to him and decoded with him. The gardener hummed, biting back a grin appearing on her face, “You know, I’m not the one to judge but- “
The batter pulled back once he felt the cipher shocking him, making Emma pull back as well with a raised eyebrow. Ganji’s face burned red, huffing a breath as his hand clenched his bat, “It was just an accident Emma”.
Emma coughed, “An accident huh”.
As the prospector silently decodes inside the church, he was feeling rather shaken to his knees, a bit muddle-headed as his mind replayed the scenes. Now that he took a deep breath of fresh air, he must've been such an idiot to let the heat of the moment get to him and kiss back Ganji. He mostly blames the batterer, stupidly kissing him out of nowhere when he could've just used a hand instead- but he was really confused as to why he even kissed back afterwards.
Surely, it must be the fact he hadn't been that close to anyone like that in a long time. Nothing else, nothing else! Being sexually frustrated after being kissed like that, it was all just a normal body reaction, nothing else-!
He was suddenly shocked as he missed typing a key, snapping him out of his running thoughts. He grumbled under his breath, feeling a headache coming as he continued his cipher. The idea of going back to the manor right now seems so tempting. Right now, Norton just wants to lay down on his bed and sleep without a care till tomorrow morning. Hell, maybe he'd even let Jack terrorshock h-
He yelped in pain when he felt ghost pain from behind him, clouds of fog encircling his body. The prospector's eyes widened. Before he could even turn his back, blades came from behind and took him down. Norton cried out, legs giving up as he knelt to the ground, his head spinning as his heart beats loudly against his chest. The loud bell chime sounded throughout the map, signaling the prospector was down.
Jack smiled widely behind his mask, kneeling to Norton's level as he chuckled, "I won't judge you survivors for doing such acts as I, myself, do so as well, but perhaps you should think about place some other time. Not that I'm bothered. If it means I'll be able to get someone down quickly, by all means proceed".
Norton couldn't even comprehend what was Jack blabbing about as he groaned in pain, gritting his teeth as he tried to focus on his surroundings. The Ripper picked up the prospector by the scruff of neck, looping his arms under the man's knees and back with a firm grip. He hummed happily as he carried Norton towards the chair. After (not-so gently) putting him down, Jack placed a hand under the prospector's chin, "Let's see if your little boyfriend saves you, shall we?".
If Norton was in better spirits he would've snapped back at the Ripper, but the current Norton was just so tired he swears he could just sleep at the rocket chair at this point. All the fatigue and exhaustion from today finally crashed to him, and all that he did was keep his head low. He still remembers to ping not to rescue him in the event either of them tried to. He was sure even they did- he probably would've just wasted their efforts and get chaired again.
The night just seemed so long at this point.
His chair time was almost up, and it was a good thing they listened for once. One cipher was remaining, and Jack who was in good spirits turned bitterly cold. He scoffed under his mask, briefly checking the chair's timer before he clicked his tongue, "Luck doesn't seem to be on my side tonight it seems".
With that he teleports away to a wiggling cipher, and Norton was left alone to blast off back to the manor. As he was mentally preparing himself, he didn't notice the locks of hair on the corner of the walls that immediately moved once the Ripper was away. And Norton, who already thought he was done for, felt the ropes on him loosened. His eyes widened, looking up at Ganji dumbly. The batter avoided his eyes, firmly grasping his wrist instead and pulled him along with him. The sound of the gardener getting hit echoed throughout the map, but it was soon followed by the pop of the cipher.
The alarm of the speakers blared, signaling the gates could now be opened.
To Norton's surprise, they all actually got away through the gates.
And from exiting the gates to walking back to the manor, Ganji hadn't let go of his hand even if Norton struggled.
He wondered what was really going on inside this man's head.
Naib walked up to them, smiles on his face as he lightly punched the batter's shoulder, "You! I didn't think you'd sneak away while we were busy with the cipher. Good thing Ripper teleported away so you can save Nort here huh?" He patted- well, more like slapped the prospector’s back as he laughed, "I thought you two were fighting for quite some time, so I didn't think you'd save him".
Norton finally shook off Ganji's hand, an awkward smile on his face as his cheeks heated up, "I already told you not to. Besides I'm sure we still could've won thanks to your kiting." He diverted the attention to the mercenary who, snorted and rolled his eyes instead, "Jack wasn't being too serious at me even if I stun him. Eugh, that pervert. One of these days my fists will hit him instead of a pallet".
Ganji was quiet the whole exchange, glancing at Norton ever so often. He pursed his lips, clenching his bat, "It's late at night, we should freshen up and head to bed for tomorrow's matches." He said, excusing himself and went back to his own room.
Naib looked at Norton, then back at Ganji. He raised an eyebrow, "Emma told me you and Ganji were kinda tense when both of you suddenly got hit. What happened?".
Norton's gaze went to the floor, rubbing the back of his nape as he awkwardly laughed, "It's nothing, don't worry about it. We should rest, I know you have an early morning match tomorrow Naib".
The mercenary scoffs, "I think you're forgetting the fact I always have to wake you up for morning matches. But sure. Good night princess, remember to lock your doors alright?". With one last pat in the back, Naib retreats to his own room, leaving Norton alone in the lobby.
Norton rolls his eyes at his last comment. He sighs deeply, scratching his arms lightly as he too slowly goes back to his own room. Ever since they got out of the church, he really had been thinking what was going on with Ganji- why exactly did he kiss him in the spur of the moment.
No, he will ignore the fact he got hot and bothered by it.
They weren't exactly on great terms after all, and it just seems so out of character for him to just… do that- to him specifically. Why him? If Emma or Naib was the one in that locker with him, would he have done the same? Would he just kiss them to shut them up? Norton didn't even think Ganji had it in him to be that bold with his actions.
He opens the doors to his bedroom, gritting his teeth as he fumbled the walls for the lights. Finally switching it on, he relaxes. Locking the door behind him, he removes his cap and gloves and set them aside, eyes gazing at the scars on his fingers. He looks away, sitting on his bed and kicked off his shoes.
He lays down, staring at the blaring light on the ceiling and closes his eyes. No matter how much he thinks about it, there's no use if the man himself doesn't do anything, right? Maybe it was just a spur of the moment thing that he didn't need to dwell on much. He shouldn't, really. Norton was sure Ganji would try and forget about it too.
Yeah…
He sits up right, groaning into his palms.
That bastard needs to talk about it, or he'll be the one doing the talking.