Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

The campfire crackled its near-constant embers. The trio of kids ran around it telling stories about their parents to each other, and really any adult who would listen. Some of them were funny, some a little concerning, and others just, well, stories by a ten year old made to impress other ten year olds. Blippity used a stick to poke and prod at the logs in the fire before leaning back on her frankly uncomfortable, bug-ridden log. She half-glanced to the figure lowering himself to sit next to her.

“So… when is it my turn?” Blippity asks.

“Your turn for…?” A somewhat familiar voice responded. It was rough, large, and always with his smug undertone to sharpen the edges. She had learned in her short time here that not everyone here was much for conversation, except for him. And she was grateful. She could only stand being near the kids for so long before she felt

Blippity gestured to Mafioso, then the kids, then to the camp in general, “You know, my turn to do whatever it is that you and everyone else take turns doing.” 

Mafioso leaned forward, arms resting on his knees, “You mean running around and mercin’ folks? You struggled to ask Wunners to give you a sleeping bag.” Blippity hunched, fiddling with the fabric of her arm warmers. She remembers that first night: staring at a neon green lightshow of a person and holding back tears as she asked for a single blanket to keep the ants off. She got it, but she still feels the phantom itch of little legs crawling over her ears.

“Well, I mean, yeah, but I could… you know… not kill whoever I’m with?” 

“Yeah, the big man upstairs won’t like you defying it.” Mafioso pulled out a cigar, and leaned over to light it with the campfire’s flames in one smooth motion. He just about covers her in his coat. He’s warmer than the flame.

Blippity barely watches him come in and out of her view, processing what he just said. She turns to face him with a start. “You mean God?!” 

“What? No. …What?” He shared her baffled expression, “No, I mean the Spectre. It won’t like you trying to break the rules.” Mafioso stares at the kids while taking a drag of his cigar, “It’s probably better you don’t, anyways. They need a sane adult to keep them in check.”

Blippity nodded, “Yeah, but if I have to address Bluudude’s ‘chat’ again, I think I’ll end up..” She blanked, What was she just saying? “On the news?” She found a quick recovery, but that still got a chuckle out of him. Success! “But yeah, I’m just curious who everyone else is. C00lkidd said he saw his dad last round? And 1x really doesn't like one of the other guys, so… y'know. Just wanted to see if I know anyone on the other team.” 

Mafioso grunts and leans back. He had to remember she hadn't been here long enough to learn everyone's names. He’d been here so long even knows who Taph is. Fucking Taph . It makes him think about how long he and his boys have been in this place. Surely his business hasn't gone under; his employees are still getting paid, right? Debts being collected, suckers losing at his casino, surely everything back home isn't falling apart in his absence. It's not like his most trusted boys that came with him were the only ones capable of running things without him there. Surely not. 

“Mafioso?” Blippity briefly touched his fist. He felt it unclench on its own. He hadn’t noticed he closed it. No matter.

“Trust me. The longer you stay under the radar, the better. It’s dangerous to be the favorite around here. The purple one’s been run ragged for the past couple of weeks trying to keep up. Those little bastards fight back, y'know.” Mafioso took another drag of his cigar, “We might get reset every round, but the soldier still has a mean right hook.” His jaw shifts in a way where Blippity hears a small pop. 

They talked for a while after. They talked strategy and technique. Rules he’s found during the game and rules she’s learned about the campsite on her own. Mafioso never let the tension leave his shoulders after that brief recollection of the situation they all found themselves in. Every question that Blippity could ask had the scent of fresh blood, innocent to what she could become. He’s only grateful that his line of work had already handed him his butcher knife. She would have to pick it up on her own.

A flash of green meant the current round was over, as 1x1x1x1 appeared across the campfire stabbing the earth. They ripped and tore at the ground feverishly, digging yet another divot into the dirt.

Mafioso stubs out his cigar and nods to them. “Did you leave Shedletsky last again?” 1x’s roar shook the others at camp to a standstill, while Mafioso waved their rage off. “Ahh, you’ll get him next time.” He approached 1x1x1x1 alongside an overactive C00lkidd to calm them down, leaving Blippity alone on the log. She watched as they pulled them up from the ground and started a conversation, as scattered as it could be. 

Something panged in her chest. She liked watching Mafioso talk. He has a flair to himself that makes her… think. She thinks about him a lot. The way his hands move, how his hat always casts a shadow so she can’t see his eyes, how he carries himself shoulders back to be bigger than the rest, how he curls down when talking to her. She wished there was something she could say or do that would instantly convey her… something to make everything… something to do to be able to… She couldn’t find the words in her own mind. She could rattle and shift through the halls of her mind, pulling at a length of rope to string a coherent thought, and can only find it’s attached to a brick wall, unmoving and very much consequential. She liked watching him talk. 

Her smile disappeared as she was stabbed through the chest. She grasped at where the spear stuck through and found no weapon, not even blood. There was no one behind her to stick anything through, no one to attack in front. She gasped for air. She fell off her seat. She reached towards the sound of others, of 1x1x1x1, of the kids, of him.  

“Ma… Mafi…” Her whimper was just barely enough to catch his attention, and he rushed over. He knelt down and held her head up off the dirt. His smug grin wavered.

“Looks like it’s your turn.”

She screamed. Loud. Too loud. Everyone winced. Including her. The phantom spit in her chest churns red hot iron into her veins, her head filling with visions. Of the feeling of disorientation on her first arrival. Of the first night laying with the insects. Of the times where her friends had wronged her. Of her petty arguments, of the large ones. Of interruptions and unsolvable puzzles. Of remarks and dismissals. Of great injustices done to her and systems that refused her. Of Bluudude’s fucking chat. Of anything and everything that has ever upset her. All compounded into this concentrated point in her chest. It overwhelmed her. She needed a way to let it out. To escape this feeling, this pain. 

She opened her eyes to a new environment. There’s something moving in the distance. And it looks really breakable.

Chapter Text

Blippity appeared back in the woods, with blood on her lips. Her limbs heavy, she hobbled towards any sound heard. It was dark. Afterimages of people she barely knew distracted her vision. 

She heard a voice in the distance. An outline of a hat appeared through the bushes. Oh. She knows him. He's one of his. 

“Found her!” He called back. What was his name again? She knows he's the right hand man, but she's blanking on much else at the moment. He wrapped his arm around her and ushered her to the campsite.

“You did real good out there! Really gave Chance and the other sentinels trouble! And going for the throat! Effective! Boss will be proud — when he comes back, of course. It’s his turn.” Her stomach churned. Did Mafioso have to go through that every time? Does everyone else feel that pure anger? The hatred? The desperate need to rip and tear? The emptiness?

She entered the camp to the sound of children cheering and the stares of the adults. 

“That was awesome !” C00lkidd exclaimed, “How did you run on all fours the entire round?” He ran towards her, only stopped by Consigliere. 

“...I did?” That explains why her back hurt. She had thought it was from the round. Everything was a blur, so getting her spine snapped during it wasn’t off the table. “Wait- You could watch?” 

C00lkidd gave her a look like she never heard of the sky, “Uhhh, the fire, duh! " 

And sure enough, staring into the campfire revealed the current round taking place. Blippity stared as Mafioso crushed a person’s head into the dirt. He seemed so different in the game than in real life. The sound was faint, she could barely make out what he was saying. 

“Sonnelinos…? Is his name Sonnelino?” Blippity looked to a laughing Consigliere. 

“Yeah? We're all Sonnelinos. Did the Boss forget to tell you?” he was watching the round in the flame, celebrating whenever one of his own hit someone. 

“I… guess he did. I was just calling him Mafioso, is that… not his name?” She felt her skin crawl. Has she been making herself look stupid this entire time? All these emotions about him and she didn't even know his na-

It's gone.

Again. 

She found a log to sit down and cover her face. Consigliere kept watching the flame.

“Oh yeah, he goes by both! Boss only lets friends call him by his name name. He likes Mafioso. Makes him feel big.” Consigliere finally looked back at Blippity, and his smile softened at her distraught, “He likes any name you call him, though. Don't tell him I told you.” He winked. 

Blippity pulled her face out of her hands and watched the end of the round. One of the survivors looked familiar. It was the one with headphones and the gun. How come they get a gun? Out of everyone that’s here, surely the mob boss would be the one to get a gun. The survivor’s voice — or what little that could get through the flames — sounded familiar. She just couldn't put her finger on it. 

Blippity turned around with a start at the sound of the forest brush rustling. Mafi- Sonnellino and his other henchmen had returned to the campsite. The four goons gathered together to regroup and decompress. 

Mafioso and Blippity just… stared. His face was unreadable, his typical smugness gone. She wished she could see his eyes, but she could feel him staring at her soul. The other voices around grew distant. Gears were turning, trying to find the perfect way to break the silence between them. 

“So… Sonellini?” Blippity cracked first. She needed to. 

He straightened his shoulders, and his smirk returned. “Sonnelino.” He corrected. 

“Solmanella.” She smirked in return. 

“Somehow worse.” His look of false irritation made its way to Consigliere. He shrugged. 

“Sonali.” Blippity pointed finger guns. 

“No!” Mafioso’s serious look cracked into a chuckle, “Are you doing this on purpose?”

“Yes, Solfege. Yes I am.” 

An evil grin spread on his face, “Well then I gotta teach you some manners!” His large hand comes down between Blippity’s large rabbit ears to reach her hair. And ruffles it. Hard. “You saw what I did to Chance! Sonnelino's don't forget!” 

As she playfully shrieked, something clicked. “Wait! Wait! Hold on! Mafioso! Stop!” She took a hold of his hand and looked up at him, “That's Chance?”

Chapter Text

Mafioso paused. He blinked. Gears turned on his head as he processed the information that Blippity had figured out. 

“The fuck- Do you know Chance?” He blurted, scandalously. 

Blippity beamed in response, “Yeah! I thought it was weird how everyone here had some connection to at least one person on the other team, but I figured out mine! Chance and I were friends!” She remembered those late nights at his parents' casino, he always made sure there was a chair for her at the table. “I can't believe he's here! I wonder who's taking care of Spade, poor guy.” Blippity slumped. The little bunny probably doesn't know where his dad is. She hopes someone at least checked on him. 

Mafioso gritted his teeth. She knew that smug bastard. She was on good terms with someone who stole from him? Chance was the reason Mafioso is even here, and she’s talking about him with a smile on her face? Wait. 

“You said ‘were’. What's up with that?” 

Blippity’s smile faded, “Well, yeah. I haven't really talked to him since…” Her brow furrowed, and then it wasn't. She sat up straight and stared straight ahead, “We haven't talked since he left.” Her voice was blank. 

Mafioso had seen her straighten up like this a few times now to know whatever train of thought she was on, it wasn’t good. He approached and knelt down to her level. “Did he hurt you?”

Her face was unreadable, though her eyes started to well up. She touched the tear with her sleeve. She stared at the spot it left behind. “You know him. He gambled too much. Made me carry the debt. Left. I… I don’t want to talk about it.” 

His hair stood on end. He so desperately wanted  to be pulled into another round right this moment. He stood up, offering his devious smirk, “Well next we see him, we’ll make it hurt, okay?” 

Blippity’s smile returned to her face, as weak as it may be, “Yeah. Okay.”

Mafioso turned to meet up with his boys and inform them of the new mission. Blippity sighed and watched. It’s nice to know he cares-

“So when are you two gonna kiss already?” Blippity jumped to her full height, and turned to see Bluudud chomping on a s’more, “Chat’s put up a betting pool, and it’s been going on since yesterday.” She just stared, not like her blanked stare, but baffled by the bluntness.

“... Go away?” was all she could muster. “Don’t eavesdrop, that’s creepy.”

Bluudud shrugged, “If you do, C00lkidd owes me ten subs.”