Chapter Text
It was late in the evening, around ten o'clock, when Rae wrote to him. He was lying in bed, scrolling through Tumblr, looking for some nice fanarts of their group of friends. He wasn't mentally the best that day and seeing the support from their fans and the fact that they even put in a few hours of work just to draw his picture always helped him. He felt like people cared about him.
Valkyrae: Heyyy, are you still awake? We need a fill in Among us, wanna join?
He sighed and rolled onto his back. Did he want to get out of bed and talk to people? Not really, but on the other hand it would distract him. And his friends always managed to make him laugh, or force him to fight for his bare life (even if it's still in the game) in Rae's case. But getting out of bed was just a lot of work today. Just as he was deciding to write off with some excuse, another message came.
Valkyrae: Did I mention Corpse plays too?
Oh, in that case, it would probably be polite of him to join, right? After all, Corpse said he would like them to play together more often. So he would be happy if Sykkuno joined. And he wants Corpse to be happy.
Before he realized how he got up off the bed, he was sitting in his chair, turning on the PC. He just wants his friends to be happy, ok? And if they are happy, so will he.
“Hi, How it's going everyone?” Sykkuno greeted as he joined the game. He did not intend to turn on the stream, because he planned to play only a few games. And he looked awful, after lying in bed all day.
“Hey! See, I told you I know how to convince him.” Rae sounded excited and proud of herself. The others greeted him with similar enthusiasm.
“I'm glad you're here, we missed you.” Normally it would be lost in the general shouting before the game, but Sykkuno always noticed when Corpse said something, even though it was so quiet, that it was almost impossible to hear. It warmed his heart. It wasn't enough to make him smile, but he no longer regretted being convinced by Rae to play.
Game started before he could say anything back, but maybe it was better that way. Nobody could make fun of them simping for each other, because they were too busy shouting and giggling. Sykkuno didn't have enough energy to turn everything into a joke and defend himself today so when the first meeting was called, he pretended to hear nothing.
“Dead body in storage!” announced Fuslie. “Locations?” Sykkuno blinked in confusion, where was he? He spent the entire first round in his thoughts without concentrating. All he remembered was that he didn't get impostor.
“Medbay with Grease and Toast.”
“True, true.”
“I am at oxygen.”
“Sykkuno, where are you?” He hoped no one would ask him if he would stay silent, but obviously it didn't help. He swallowed nervously and ran his hand through his hair. Which side did he go to? And he met someone along the way, does he remember any color?
“Uh, mhhm, I- I was at…” he began to panic. “I d-don't remember, really. My memory is bad.” he said quietly. He didn't want to upset his friends like last time when he was memeing to make his friends laugh, but it didn't turn out well. He knew they didn't mean it when they shouted at him, but sometimes it just was too much for him. Some days were too challenging and stressful. Today was also like that.
“Sykkuno was with me in Nav and then we went down together.Uh, the body was reported when he was doing shields.” Corpse suddenly spoke, in a voice that does not allow objections. Sykkuno still didn't understand how the tone of his voice could change so quickly. At one point he lies that he is not an impostor without anyone questioning it, and then he jokes that he would build a house in Minecraft with Sykkuno and flirt with him. He didn't understand it, but he admired it.
“Oh, is it true Sykkuno? Or you were caught red handed and cannot lie about it, so Corpse must cover for you?” Toast pulled out his not so authentic British accent with an audible smile on his lips.
“What? N-no, it could be me, definitely, but it's not Corpse.” Which must have been true, if he were an impostor, he certainly wouldn't have covered him when he could get free kill. And Sykkuno came for him because Corpse said he liked to play with him. It would not be fair if in the first game he was ejected because Sykkuno was not paying attention. He wanted everyone to enjoy the game.
“Sykkuno can you stop doing this?” Fuslie said and then there was a thud on her side, as if something heavy had fallen on her desk. Did she really bang her head on the table?
“Uh, what do you mean? I am just saying that I could definitely kill 5up and then I vented out. I didn't do it, but I could.” He laughed nervously, hoping he didn't make anyone angry again. Maybe it will be better if he stops this and tries to make his friends laugh another way. Yeah, that would be the best decision.
Fortunately the others took it well, also because so far there was only one dead and they all skipped. This time, Sykkuno was about to concentrate. He may not be able to figure out who the impostor is, but at least he won't spoil the game by not even remembering where he was.
This time he ran to the left, mumbling the colors he passed along the way, so he had something to say at the next meeting. Unfortunately it was useless. The lights went out and he was killed by Fuslie at the exit of the reactor after a few seconds. Sykkuno sighed, removed his hands from the keyboard, and closed his eyes for a moment. Maybe he should play with friends without a camera and stream more often. It was reassuring to know that he doesn't have to worry about what he looks like and doesn't have to talk all the time. Not that it would bother him. But sometimes it was nice to just talk to friends and not worry about everything else.
“Who killed Sykkuno.” It suddenly came from his headphones along with the siren announcing someone reported another body. Now Sykkuno had to smile. “He just joined us.”
“Well at least we know it's not Corpse. He vouched for Sykkuno, if he was an impostor, he would not say anything.” Claimed Charlie calmly.
“Do not deviate from the topic. Sykkuno ran to the left, who saw him last?” Corpse sounded impatient to Sykkuno's surprise, he even dismissed Charlie, who only gave him the perfect alibi. Corpse's almost angry tone made the hairs on his arms stand. Of course, he knew that Corpse wasn't always just a sweet cinnamon roll, but when playing Among us with friends he was always rather nervous and held back more than in his songs. He shook his head, took off his headphones, and stood up. He should have a drink, he layed in bed all day with almost no food or water, and now he reacted strangely to things.
He returned after five minutes, a hastily done sandwich in one hand and a large bottle of sparkling water in the other. He came just in time to see the last three during their final discussion. Corpse, Charlie and Toast were there, three really good players. Sykkuno really didn't know which of them was the second impostor. Fuslie that killed him was already dead.
“I don't think it's worth discussing here. It can't be Corpse, as we were convinced at the beginning, so I'm voting Toast here.” A small icon
I voted
appeared next to Charlie's head.
“Wait, wait, wait, Corpse! Don't vote, listen to me.” Toast began to panic a little. “It is not me, I was fixing lights and also nobody ever sus me in this game. It has to be Charlie.” Sykkuno settled comfortably and bit into the food. Corpse was not in an easy position, but he had no doubt that he would pick the right one and win.
In the end, Toast and Charlie shouted at each other about why they were innocent, and Corpse just laughed into the microphone 30 seconds before the end of the voting. Sykkuno was smiling with him, his laughter was contagious.
“Okay, I think I know who it is.” Corpse finally casted his vote on Toast, still giggling unable to talk normally. It was only then that Sykkuno realized why this situation was so funny to him. And it was confirmed to him at the final screen, which showed
“defeat”
and beneath the letters the ghost of Fuslie and the little character of Corpse.
Another few seconds, nobody didn't understand anything, the only thing that could be recognized was the word “how”. Sykkuno waited for the situation to calm down a bit before he spoke.
“Nice job, Corpse!” He was happy for him, even though he used him as his alibi. Sykkuno knew it was not because he had to, he would do the same thing as a crewmate. Corpse was always like that, he just didn't know why he deserved that.
“Thank you, Sykkuno, I couldn't do it without you.” Sykkuno blushed, just a little bit and instinctively covered his face with hands. How does he just keep saying things like that? “But next time stay closer to me, so the other impostor can't kill you.”
“I am sorry, lovebirds!” Fuslie said. The others began to laugh again, causing even more redness coming into Sykkuno's cheeks. Luckily he didn't have to say anything, because the second game just started. Which was good, all he could do now was stutter.
Once again,
crewmate
appeared on the screen.
Sykkuno went to weapons followed by Corpse. They started doing asteroids together, and finished almost exactly at the same time. Sykkuno then needed to download some data and surprisingly Corpse was waiting for him. That made Sykkuno feel better. He couldn't stream with this mood, but silence between rounds also didn't help him, so his presence was really comforting. It was only a character in a game running with him. But he knew that Corpse somewhere in California cares about him and is purposely waiting for him, which made Sykkuno feel calmer. He still had friends…
Lights went off and they split, Sykkuno was too afraid of double kill so he stayed in medbay where they were last, waiting if someone was going to use the vent in electrical. He saw nothing and then Toast's body was reported.
There were actually three dead crewmates, Toast, Valkyrae and Charlie. Sykkuno was worried. That was a clean job and whoever did this was clever enough to eliminate the best detectives first. They were everybody good players but some of them were more dangerous as crewmate than impostors. Who would think like that?
"So graveyard in electrical." Said 5up. "It looks like Sykkuno's work, he likes making lots of kills in one place." That was a serious accusation without any proof, but 5up's tone made him defend himself immediately.
"What-no! I would never kill Toast first!" Which was true, he always had a hard time to kill him even in the middle of the game. But also it was a really weak defense. "And I was with Corpse the majority of time, didn't even go to fix lights."
"Yeah." He heard a deep voice confirming his words, but the others did not seem to acknowledge him how quietly he spoke. Sykkuno usually didn't mind so much, because he knew Corpse is an adult and if he didn't like it, he would say something. But today he was in a really bad mood and others didn't listen to Corpse and just talking about how he wasn't here upset him even more.
"I mean usually, but you already did this when Toast found you with two corpses in electrical and didn't report it right away." Fuslie added.
"But guys, we are on seven, right? We don't shoot on seven." Normally no, but it was getting late and they were memeing hard. Two "I voted" appeared when he said it.
"Good enough for me." Poki laughed and voted with Corpse just seconds before the timer expired. Sykkuno expected three votes for him, 5up, Poki and Fuslie, but to his surprise there were four. Corpse also voted for him.
"Oh, why Corpse?" He asked as he watched his character falling into lava.
"Because you are suspicious." Corpse managed to say with a smile in his tone before the next round began. Sykkuno didn't understand. How? How are they using him every round when he didn't even try to act sus like always? Maybe that was why, because he played normally with his stream off?
He sat there for the next two minutes or so, didn't do a single task and then he grabbed his phone and texted Corpse before he could change his mind.
Sykkuno: Why am I suspicious?
He needed to know, he wanted to play peacefully with his friends, talk and have fun not worrying about the game itself too much. It was stupid anyway getting upset about a game where everyone just sus everyone, but today was just different.
Corpse answered him only seconds later, like he was waiting for that message.
Corpse: You’re pretty sus for stealing my heart.
That was unexpected. Sykkuno was really glad nobody could see his face now, but he still covered his pink cheeks out of habit. It hits differently when Corpse said something like this to him privately, without making it a joke for other people on stream. Corpse probably still didn't mean it, but Sykkuno's heart didn't care, it started to beat a little faster. How was he supposed to answer this?
Corpse: Also I want to win this game and I know I cannot manage to kill you normally, so I have to vote you off. :)
Oh, now it does make sense! Sykkuno laughed, and moved his ghost closer to Corpse to see him venting or killing someone. He didn't think of Corpse getting Impostor again, because he was usually so unlucky and didn't get it more than once in the whole night.
Sykkuno: I think I am the one who cannot kill his friends?
Right, play it safe and ignore the first message, that was the best, probably. But Corpse didn't seem to be done with flirting.
Corpse: Yeah, but you are special.
Sykkuno didn't have a mirror here but he was pretty sure his face must be bright red now, but he also smiled widely. His mood swings today are gonna kill him before his friends do, really.
Suddenly another defeat screen appeared and Toast immediately started complaining about Corpse being so oblivious and yet nobody seems to notice it. Corpse was not saying anything this time, until Poki mentioned something about ruthlessly killing everyone which Sykkuno didn't hear properly, but Corpse's response was clear.
"It's not like that, I do have a problem with killing… certain people." Now Sykkuno was listening again.
"Oh I wonder why." She giggled as well as some of their friends. Sykkuno was praying that nobody asked him anything right now because he would say something awkward as always. He was feeling weird, too many different emotions at once.
Corpse didn't answer it, just cleared his throat and laughed with the rest of them. Sykkuno started to play with his hair unintentionally, as he always did when he was nervous or thinking about something too much. Or both. Yeah Corpse was really sweet to him, he couldn't deny it, but this was not his style. He was always keeping Sykkuno safe but when he had to he would kill him to win the game. This was… new. But it was definitely a good feeling. Maybe too good, it really shouldn't matter that much to him. But it did. It was like a cat was sitting on his chest and purring in affection. It was nice… is he supposed to feel that way with his friend? Maybe he needed a pause, his feelings were messed up today, he couldn't think normally and he was definitely making up things.
"I am sorry but I have to go, I have to wake up early." Sykkuno sighed in relief when Fuslie said that it was an excuse for him to also go to bed without feeling bad about leaving only after two games. He needed to put himself together.
"I also need to leave, I have some work in progress." Charlie added with a hint of mystery in his voice.
"Nooo you can't leave when I spend half an hour convincing Sykkuno to join us!" Which was not exactly true but it was Rae, she always talked like that, although she never really needed to talk to him for hours because she knew him very well.
"It's okay Rae, I also have um… stuff to do." He would probably go to bed again but she didn't need to know it.