Work Text:
Mark paced around his room as he thought about what happened in the past few hours.
He should’ve known Dee was up to something. He has always been stubborn, even when they were kids.
It’s awful. They just started to mend their friendship, only for the debater to die because Eloise blamed him for Desmond’s execution.
“..Damon.” Mark stared at the blond’s back.
Said man turned around. “You… you’re not her.”
“Ah. Planning something reckless again, huh?” He recognized that idiotic look on the other’s face after the trial. He always saw that look whenever Damon started arguments and fights just so he could defend Mark.
Damon quickly got upset at that. “Not this again.. I’m not some.. reckless idiot! I have everything under control, Mark.”
Mark stopped staring at his face and looked down. “.. You’re fidgeting with your tie.”
“What..?” Damon blinked in confusion.
“You only do that when you’re nervous, Dee.” He pointed at the tie.
Dee could only stare in shock at the old nickname.
It’s been years since they saw each other. Mark never really thought they’d cross paths again, not after that huge argument from when they were barely teens.
He regretted the words he said that afternoon. He regretted pushing away his closest friend just because he felt like he didn’t deserve Dee’s affection. Dee was far too kind-hearted, he was as bright as the sun and it scared Mark.
Mark was going through a very bad mental breakdown while Dee was very emotional and also stressed from an upcoming debate, it was a recipe for disaster.
They knew each other too well, the words they threw at each other far too cruel.
But there’s no way to fix that now, is there? Dee’s dead and Mark couldn’t do anything about it.
“...May.” Dee whispered. “I.. I’m sorry… for what I said back then.”
May. It’s so nice to hear that nickname again. “Sorry too.. I wasn’t thinking right..” Mark whispered back.
“... You kept the beanie.” Dee pointed out.
Right. They never really talked about that, did they? Their previous conversations were… too short and awkward.
“I like it, it means a lot to me. You kept the tie.” He said.
Dee gave him a handmade alligator beanie for his birthday. This made him learn to embroider a snake onto a tie for Dee’s birthday.
“Well, it’s like you said.” Dee smiled, his dimple showing. “I like it and it means a lot to me.”
It’s been so long since Mark saw him smile, he couldn’t help but smile too.
Mark actually had something else to do other than talk to Dee. He wanted to give him one of the spare beanies from his dorm’s wardrobe. It was just a copy, but he wanted Dee to have another thing to remember him by. This made the other give him one of the snake ties copies too.
Yes, he wanted to survive the killing game but he didn’t want to be too sure and let his guard down.
Maybe he shouldn’t have given him that beanie. It gave Eloise a chance to frame him after all.
She must’ve seen it on the desk in Dee’s dorm and cut it up near the bookshelves where the crime first started.
Being accused of murdering Dee was horrible, to put it lightly. He was put through the wringer.
It didn’t help that Kai was an enraged emotional mess and practically verbally attacked him. He understood why he did that though, he’s seen how close the influencer got with Dee. He’s pretty sure there’s something romantic in that.
“How fucking dare you?!” Kai yelled at Mark. “You… Why would you do that!?”
“I- I didn’t! I would never kill Dee-” He stumbled on his words, his voice isn’t used to being loud. “I would never kill Damon!”
“You liar! Your beanie was right there in the drawer of his desk!” Kai shouted back.
Eloise chimed in, “You were the only one besides Kai who was in their dorm room. You have no alibi.”
“I- No! I only… NO!” He could barely speak, he’s too overwhelmed by so many emotions. “I DIDN’T KILL HIM.”
Grief over losing Dee, shock over being accused of murdering him, confusion over why he would be framed, scared over being yelled at.
It was too much.
They were very close to voting for Mark. He couldn’t defend himself, far too emotionally compromised to speak proper sentences that weren’t ‘I didn’t kill him’. That only made him more suspicious in the other’s eyes.
Actually, the only reason he was deemed innocent was.. Cassidy.
She knew about his history with Dee, he told her some time after.. Jett’s death. As loud and silly she can be most of the time, she’s surprisingly very serious when it comes to making sure he was okay.
“PUMP THE BREAKS!” Cassidy interrupted the heated influencer.
“What the hell is it now?!” Kai glared at her.
“Mark didn’t kill Damo!” She yelled out. “I’ve got pretty good evidence too!”
“Hm? Why didn’t you say anything earlier?” Eloise looked at her with suspicion. “Are you trying to cover for him?”
“Y-Yes! How can we be sure what you say is true?” Toshiko stammered out. “The two of you are awfully close! Especially after the death of Jett!”
Cassidy sighed and looked at Mark, her expression softening. “Hey bud. Mind if I told ‘em about you and bargain bin?”
He nodded, making her look back to the rest of the participants. “Mark and Damon were childhood friends. They grew apart though. But he told me a few days ago he wanted to talk to Damon to repair their relationship. There’s no way Mark would kill him.”
Shit. Wait.
“What…?” Kai whispered out.
“How can we be sure he didn’t bring a knife when he went to Damon’s dorm?” Eloise coldly said, glaring at the gamer.
Dee said something at the start of their conversation.
“Um… But wouldn’t that defeat the purpose of trying to mend their friendship..?” Diana spoke up.
A clue to the killer.
“How can we trust Cassidy’s words?” The fencer rebutted. “Like Toshiko said, they’re friends. She could be covering for him.”
Mark finally got the strength to speak again, “...The killer’s a girl… When I talked.. to him before he died.. He said ‘You’re not her.’, he knew his killer even before.. he got attacked.”
It was.. very easy to figure out the culprit after that. Eloise was very intent on blaming him even after Cassidy’s words, she was the first one to discover the bloody hallway, and most importantly, she had a motive.
Dee was the leading force like usual in Desmond’s trial. And Eloise really tried to convince everyone she was the culprit instead despite Desmond confessing at the start of the trial.
He hated every single word that came out of her mouth about Dee. It was so.. venomous, she was villainizing him when all he did was try to live. Sure, he could be very rude at times but that didn’t warrant murdering him.
Dee was a good man. He could be very emotional but he cared so much because of it. He loved his parents, sacrificed everything for them. He protected Mark from bullies, not caring that he himself got hurt too. He defended Diana in the first real trial because he knew in his heart that she would never do that.
Dee had a lot of flaws but he’s grown a lot since this whole killing game started. But that was all lost because Eloise was far too blinded by grief and rage to notice that.
He understood her, she lost someone she loved dearly. But he can’t forgive her for taking away someone with a bright future, for taking away his childhood friend.
Three knocks on the door.
“Yo, Mark.” A familiar voice spoke on the other side of the door. “It’s just me. Mind if I come in?”
He stopped his pacing and opened the door.
“You look like a mess.” Cassidy said as she strolled into his dorm. “Which is fair, after everything you’ve been through tonight.”
She didn’t have her ushanka or her jacket and her hair was untidy too. “You look like a mess too.” He responded.
“I liked bargain bin.” She frowned, looking at the ground. “And I like to think we kinda became best friends, the kind who bicker a lot but there’s no heat behind it.”
“Neither of us had a lot of friends..” He said. “But I think he considered you as one. Not immediately but…”
Cassidy chuckled and shook her head. “Hey, hey. I appreciate that but I’m the one who’s supposed to comfort you tonight. You’re the one who lost their childhood best friend, not me.”
“Mn.. Right.” Mark sighed. “I wish I talked to him sooner…”
“You weren’t ready yet, dude.” She looked back up with a soft expression. “You didn’t know Damo would die.”
“But… I knew something was up.” Tears were starting to build up. “I.. could’ve stayed with him. I knew he tends to.. sacrifice himself.”
“I should’ve stayed. We could’ve talked more, caught up with our lives after drifting apart.” He couldn’t help but start crying. “I could’ve told him about how Veronicat was or asked about his parents. If I stayed longer, maybe that would’ve deterred Eloise from killing Dee.”
“But you didn’t know this would happen.” Cassidy placed her hands on his shoulders, her firm hold grounding him again. “It’s not your fault, Mark. Damo wouldn’t want you blaming yourself for something out of your control.”
“But–”
“No buts! No ass either!” She interrupted.
That last part was so absurd and so out of place that he couldn’t help but laugh in confusion. “I– Are you– What are you saying..?!” He said in between his laughs and wiping his tears.
She giggled in response. “There we go, stopped ya from spiralling again, right?”
“I– You’re ridiculous.” He stared at her in utter bewilderment.
“I know you liked puns and stuff so I thought I could use the opportunity to cheer you up! Did it work?” She grinned at him.
He sighed. “Very well, unfortunately.”
“See! I know you so well! This is why we’re friends!” She giggled again.
He huffed. “More like you forced me into this friendship.”
“Pssh. Same difference.”
God, why was he friends with her again?
Even after losing Dee, Mark knew he had to keep on living.
For Dee, for Veronicat, for Cass, for everyone else that died.
He kept Dee’s tie wrapped around his wrist, a reminder of their friendship.
He has Cassidy by his side to help him out no matter what.
He’ll make it out of this killing game.
He won't give up. Never again.
He will live and escape this killing game.
He needs to.