Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Chance’s steps were light, barely touching the floor before he sprung off to the next foot. He paced across the hardwood floor, waiting for Builderman and Guest 1337 to finish the food for breakfast- eggs and toast- so that they could plate it up and serve it to the others.
“How’s it going?” They checked in with Guest 1337 again, standing on their toes to peek over the man’s shoulder at the eggs. They were forming up well.
“Fine. Almost done.” Guest 1337 replied patiently.
Chance gave a quick grin and moved back. Guest 1337 was always pleasant to be around. The man was infinitely patient to all things that weren’t insults or fighting. Chance couldn’t think the same for Builderman, who had simply stopped responding the second time Chance had asked him how the toast was turning out.

“Start plating.” Guest 1337 said, moving the eggs off the heat and stepping back for Chance to finally get his job done.
“Thanks, dude!” Chance called out to him, using the spatula to put an even portion of eggs onto each plate.
Halfway through that, Builderman stepped back himself. Chance turned over his shoulder to give a thanks to him, too, which earned him a silent nod in return.
Chance finished plating the eggs, then put two slices of toast on some plates, one on others, and none on one plate he decided to be Shedletsky’s. The guy hated bread with a passion, and Chance wanted to do him the favor of not having to toss it onto Builderman’s plate.

“Breakfast is ready!” Chance yelled out. Builderman and Guest 1337, still standing nearby, took plates first. The others trickled in, some just grabbing a plate at random, others taking time to choose the one with what they perceived to be the most eggs, or biggest slices of toast. Shedletsky gave Chance a quick but thankful smile at the plate with no toast and a noticeably larger portion of eggs.
Veeronica was standing with Elliot and Two Time in line. She grabbed a plate early and handed it to Two Time, which earned her a small softening of their usual creepy smile. “Thanks, breakfast people!” She called out loudly as their group moved to sit down. Guest 1337 looked up and gave her a thumbs up in return.

Once all the plates were taken, Chance took the last one with two slices of toast and the even amount of eggs. They looked back around the eating area. Everyone was sorted into groups. Noob and Taph. Guest 1337, Shedletsky, Builderman, and Dusekkar. Veeronica, Elliot, and Two Time.
Everyone but 007n7, who was eating in one of the booths.
Chance slid into the other side, hitting their leg against the wood at the edge in the process. They paid it no mind, crossing their legs as they started up a conversation.
“Hi, Sev.”
007n7 looked up from his eggs, giving Chance a small hum in acknowledgement.
Chance grinned back, kicking his crossed legs across the rest of his section of the booth. “Have you noticed Dusekkar looking nervous lately?” He said, starting up the conversation.
“Yes, I have.” 007n7 responded, eyes going to Chance’s face. He was glad he wasn’t the only one to have noticed, let alone the one to bring it up to the other.
Chance looked over to Dusekkar, who was quietly discussing something with Shedletsky while Guest 1337 and Builderman talked. The man was clutching his staff with both hands, keeping it securely against the floor even as he sat.
“Nice.” Chance said, looking back at 007n7.

In a moment of playful impulse, Chance stole the last bite of eggs from 007n7’s plate. The other scoffed at them, then stole a bite from Chance’s. “Hey! No fair! You don’t have any I can steal now!” Chance scolded, teasingly.
007n7 gave a victorious smirk back. Once he swallowed the stolen bite, he spoke. “Well, at least we’re even now.”
Chance gave a dramatic sigh, leaning back against the wall, legs still across his side of the booth. “You’re so evil. My poor eggs. They yearned for my mouth, not yours!”
007n7 raised an eyebrow at his words. Chance made an offended noise and rolled his eyes, even if they both knew he worded it like that on purpose.
“That was the worst innuendo you’ve made.”
“I can make worse ones if I want.”
007n7 sighed, eyes going to Chance’s outfit for the day. “I know.” He said, then continued on a different topic, “Were those the only option you got for clothes today?”

Chance looked down at his own outfit. Bright blue blazer and tie, navy blue vest and pants, and a white undershirt underneath. “Yep!” They responded, adjusting their tie.
“Interesting.” 007n7 responded, tilting his head to look at the outfit in tandem with the angle Chance was leaning against the wall at. “Well, I can’t say it looks bad on you, Chance.”
“Thanks, Sev!”

007n7 gave him a softer smile in turn, then stood up from the booth. “I’m on dish washing duty this morning. Would you like to help once you finish eating?”
Chance nodded quickly, then turned to their plate. None of the food was eaten, save for the bite of eggs 007n7 had stolen. Chance picked up a slice of toast, which was still warm in the middle, and began eating that. Once he finished that slice, he ate around half of the other before being too bothered by its lack of warmth to finish it.
They walked to 007n7, scraping their food remains off into the trash on the way, and plopped their plate into the soapy water.

“I’ll take the drying part.” Chance said, moving to the section of towels. 007n7 gave a small thanks, passing a cleaned dish to him as he did. Chance dried it, then reached for the next one. 007n7 purposefully brushed their fingers together as he handed it to Chance. Chance gave a quick laugh, which earned them a faint flustered smile.
They worked in silence, occasionally brushing their shoulders together. Once all the dishes were cleaned and dried, they put them back into the cabinets.

“Cabinets are getting dusty again.” Chance commented as they closed them. “Are they?” 007n7 asked as they walked together into the main room where the others were already gathered. “I think so.”

007n7 didn’t know how to respond, so he didn’t. He just shrugged. Chance shrugged back, then the two brought their eyes to Dusekkar.
The man was leaned against Shedletsky, who was gesturing widely as he told a story. Occasionally, Shedletsky would pause to look over at Dusekkar in concern and ask him a question, which earned him a quick annoyed look and answer.

Chance let his eyes wander to the others. Elliot had taken a seat near Dusekkar and Shedletsky. Two Time was close by, sitting as well, for once, and listening to Elliot’s occasional comments.
Veeronica, Taph, and Noob were in the corner. Taph was signing something and the other two were listening.

007n7’s hand grabbed theirs. Chance perked up, only for the world to sharply turn black.

Chance was on concrete. They were down, for some odd reason. He stood up, hand on the bricks. They were cold beneath his gloves, catching on the fabric. Chance walked out of the alleyway. Their hand stayed on the brick wall until it slid off.
Chance breathed out, getting their mindset to one more fit for a round, not socializing. He needed to find others, to stick near them and flip his coin until he had enough luck to protect them. They reached their hand into the blazer’s inside pocket and pulled out their coin. He flipped it repeatedly, not caring for the results, more concerned with having enough charge for a quick-get away in case the killer found them first.

It was cold. The type of cold that only came before it snowed. Chance looked up, seeing only light gray, blank clouds covering the sky. It would’ve been relieving if it wasn’t so unfamiliar to see in the purgatory they were all in. There were clouds sometimes, but they were always distant and wispy, and highlighted by the orange reflecting off of the overly large moon. Either that, or they were dark grey with rain and lightning. Even then, they never covered so much, or made the purgatory feel more dreary.
Chance considered in his head if the large moon was their equivalent to the sun here, and if the clouds coverage was blocking off the warmth it produced. Then, he heard someone call out to him. It was Dusekkar. The man waved a large hand in the air, beckoning Chance over.

Chance changed course quickly and jogged to Dusekkar. “Hey! What’s up?”
“Greetings, Chance.” Dusekkar said, returning both hands to tightly grip his staff. “I simply wanted to group up. Thank you.”
“Oh, yeah, of course!” Chance responded, tucking their coin back into their pocket. “Glad to see ya!”
“Indeed.” Dusekkar replied, looking around. Without a word, he began to float off down the road. Chance stood still for just a moment, in surprise of the other’s quick pace, then followed.
Chance watched how Dusekkar levitated. If the man fully extended his legs, he would reach the ground. But instead, he bent them at the knee and floated from there.
“The way you float is cool.” Chance commented. Dusekkar simply hummed. Chance turned to look the other way. On the other side of the road was a more narrow sidewalk, with a railing on the edge over where it dipped down. “Do you know who the killer is this round?”
“No, I am not yet aware who is after our lives this round.”
Chance nodded, taking a deep breath.

Being around the admin calmed Chance. It made them realize how quick they were talking, and how shallow their breaths had been for the past hours. Being in such a good mood made them unaware of their own body, they learned that over the years. In the past, he had multiple cases where he was sick and did not notice until it went away and he felt better physically or others pointed out his shakier hands and raspy voice. While they walked, Chance considered what it was about Dusekkar that relaxed them, and concluded it was simply the admin’s predictability.
They reached a parking lot. Chance looked around it. There were two cars, one parked perfectly, the other turned diagonally in the middle. It wasn’t inside any parking lines. Chance made a small laugh when thinking about if the Spectre had used someone’s actual parking as a reference.

The parking lot led into a small convenience store. Inside, 007n7 and Builderman were talking while Builderman armored a dispenser.
“Hey! Sev, Builder!” Chance called out, waving as he and Dusekkar walked in. 007n7 turned quickly, already faintly smiling at the familiar nickname. He didn’t recognize Chance’s voice by sound alone, but he did recognize that Chance was the only one to use the nickname, and was happy to be near him so soon in the round. Builderman gave a different reaction. He sighed as he stood from the dispenser, looking from Chance to Dusekkar.
“Hello.” Builderman replied.

Chance walked up to 007n7, ignoring Builderman’s unenthusiastic greeting. “How’s the round going?”
007n7 opened the c00lgui, glancing around it before quickly waving it away. “Good. We don’t know who it is yet, though.”
007n7 looked like he was about to say more, but was interrupted by the two admins breaking into a fit of laughter. Chance perked up, looking at them for a clue of what they were laughing at. They were looking at the vending machine, at how it had a dent in it. Chance turned back to 007n7 and shrugged. They weren’t laughing at the two of them. That was all that mattered.

007n7 caught the conversation back up, mutually agreeing to not head out until someone registered as injured on the c00lgui. As they did, snow began to fall outside. Dusekkar was the first to notice. He pointed it out to Builderman, who walked outside without a word. The ringing of the convenience store bell that came with Builderman’s exit was what got Chance and 007n7 to look outside.
“Snow!” Chance exclaimed, moving to step to the door. 007n7 looked from them to the outside. The softness of the snow almost fit Chance, in his mind. It seemed nice to lay down in, to let warmth come from the layering of the snow on top of him.
007n7 made a face at his own cheesy thoughts, then grabbed Chance’s hand and led them outside with him.

Dusekkar came out after them. He released a clenched hand from his staff and raised it, palm up, to the sky. Any snowflakes that fell on it melted rapidly. Dusekkar brought his hand back down, the mouth of the pumpkin curving down into a faint smile.
Chance pressed his shoulder against 007n7’s. The snow that was falling down kept getting caught on his bright blue fedora, so he took it off and shook it with his free hand. 007n7 watched, eyes following Chance’s movements. When Chance noticed and looked at him with a confused look, 007n7 just smiled. Chance hummed in response, then brought their stare back to the snow as they placed their fedora back.
“We’ve gotten rain before, not snow. Can’t say I like it.” He commented. It was still interesting to them, the new event.
Dusekkar, who had walked in front of them, responded. “Indeed. Not only that, but I would say it is not quite cold enough for it to be snowing- and yet it snows anyways.”
“Nice. I fuckin’ hate the cold.”

They broke off into silence, each watching the snow glide down. 007n7 had his eyes on a streetlight, staring blankly at the way the snow was illuminated underneath it. Dusekkar was looking up at the clouds. Chance stared at the ground, crossing his free arm- the one not clinging onto 007n7’s hand- over his chest.
“Hey, where’s Builderman?” Chance asked upon noticing the admin gone during his rare glances up to see what 007n7 was looking at.

Dusekkar looked around. Upon seeing no sign of Builderman- except for fading footprints 007n7 pointed out- he sighed. “Pay it no mind. Builderman simply enjoys… wandering.”
Chance grimaced to show their confusion, but it came off more as judgement. 007n7 gave a squeeze to their hand, as if trying to reassure them. Chance gave a quick nod, signaling to him that the emotion he figured Chance was showing was unintentional.

Chance squeezed 007n7’s hand back anyways and, once seeing Dusekkar look back at the footprints, lifted 007n7’s hand up to carefully kiss between the jagged red lines that ran up his arm. 007n7 flinched from surprise, then smiled and pressed a kiss to Chance’s glove.
If Chance had their glove off, they’d be able to feel the smile against their hand. For now, they could only feel the warmth of 007n7’s lips and the pressure of the chaste kiss. Still, that was enough for Chance, who grinned directly at 007n7 in return.

Once they stood in silent affection for a while, 007n7’s watch beeped. It broke the moment, but not the joyful, tight feeling in Chance’s chest. 007n7 opened the c00lgui from his watch and glanced around it.
“Builderman has been injured. Stab wound, probably, and maybe poisoned?”
“Ah. 1x1x1x1, then.” Dusekkar said, floating over the layer of snow down the path Builderman’s now-covered footprints had indicated. “Let us make haste. Builderman is strong, but not agile. Not enough.”
Chance made a noncommittal hum at that. They had seen Builderman dodge, and had assumed he was fast. But, compared to the other admins, such as Shedletsky’s quick dashes and step-backs and Dusekkar’s ability to float, it could be concluded he was less agile.

Chance and 007n7 followed hand-in-hand, footsteps quiet from the snow. Chance occasionally looked up to the sky, trying to find a patch of the now familiar red in the expanse of light grey clouds. He couldn’t see the clouds now, or the tops of the rooftops. They were too obscured by the increasing snowfall.
007n7 next to them made a face and an annoyed groan.
“What?” Chance asked.
“Nothing. Just wet shoes.”
“Ew. Yeah. I’m lucky I always get boots.”
“They do make it hard to run long distances, yes?”
“Yeah, but I keep far away. Most of the time, anyway.”
007n7 made a disbelieving laugh. They could see each other’s breath now. It was getting colder. “Sure. I’ve seen you get chased down plenty of times.”
Chance let go of 007n7’s hand to shove his hands in his pockets against the cold. “That’s just… relative or whatever. I don’t get chased that often, you just notice it more because you care a lot when I do!”
“Well, me caring is true. Still, I think-” 007n7 was cut off by another beep from his watch.

Dusekkar stopped ahead of them, clutching his staff tighter. “Is Builderman in fine condition?”
007n7 opened the c00lgui up again. He frowned. Chance peeked over his shoulder to see what he was upset over, and found Builderman’s icon to be fully red. “No. Died.”

Dusekkar turned around, frowning. “Builderman has fallen?”
“Yes. That’s what I said.” 007n7 confirmed as he let the c00lgui dissipate back into his watch. Dusekkar stood still for a few moments, recalculating, until he nodded. “In that case, let us get somewhere warmer. This snow will only weaken our endurance and make us susceptible to our opponent.”
Chance gave their agreement, and 007n7 nodded in turn.

All three ducked under the awning of a locked store. The snow outside it was creeping in, taking on the appearance of small rolling hills from the uneven snowfall due to the awning’s coverage.
“So, uhm, new plan maybe?” Chance said, flipping his coin. It landed on tails, and the air felt far colder.
“We could wait for another notification.” Offered 007n7, but even he looked unsure at that plan. They wouldn’t be able to move to help fast enough in the snow.
Dusekkar shook his head. “No. I fear we must remain here. If 1x1x1x1 arrives, we will assist each other then.”

007n7 sighed and turned off the notifications on his c00lgui in order to prevent further guilt of their inability to help others. “Alright.”
Chance fixed their hat. The excess cold from their stacks of weakness went away, but Chance could still feel the air creeping onto his skin up his sleeves. To alleviate it, they leaned against the corner. 007n7 started to talk to Dusekkar about strategies for later rounds like this, if it ever snowed again. As he did, he inched over to Chance, standing by the wall in order to block the wind from him.

Chance patted 007n7’s shoulder in thanks, then grabbed his coin back out of his pocket, and returned to flipping it. Heads, Tails, Tails, Tails, Heads, Tails, Heads.
They pocketed it again, and listened into the others' conversation.

Chapter Text

“So, to recap,” Chance started, waving a hand in the air for emphasis, “We’re going to slowly move out? Like, warm place to warm place?”
“Indeed. That way we are less predictable to 1x1x1x1.”
Chance nodded in understanding, then looked from Dusekkar to the snow outside the awning. “We could move out now. We’re warm enough, yeah?”

Dusekkar and 007n7 turned to each other. 007n7 was the first to agree with Chance, which made Dusekkar agree in turn.

They left all together, Dusekkar taking the lead. As they walked along the line of buildings, 007n7 summoned the c00lgui.
Chance leaned forward to look at the c00lGUI alongside 007n7.
“Just checking things.” 007n7 murmured as he quickly swiped along it.
There was only an hour left. Guest 1337 and Two Time were injured, but neither had horrible wounds. Veeronica, who had been connected more thoroughly to the c00lGUI due to her assistance in 007n7’s medkit delivery system, had reported herself as “In Sight” within the past 10 minutes.
“What does that mean?” Chance asked, pointing to the status Veeronica was in.
“It means the killer saw her, or she saw the killer.”
“Oh, neat! How’d you do that?”
“You know the chip I put in most of us?”
“Yeah. The weird spider thing.”
007n7 rolled his eyes at Chance’s continuance of calling the GUI chip a “spider”. “For Veeronica, I was able to connect her more to the GUI, due to her being robotic.”
“Oh. So she can send messages back?”
“Statuses, or a five second audio message, but, yes.”
Chance nodded, looking back forward as he took in the information.

007n7, in order to be more useful, had asked to put “chips” on the survivors backs in order to register who was injured on his GUI. The “chips” were more like small boxes of data that were attached to the survivor’s skin. Chance didn’t know how they worked, if they detected injury through some weird code thing, or from registering impact. Chance assumed the former, as they were known to light up on the c00lGUI when they stacked up too much weakness.
But, despite all that Chance didn’t know about 007n7’s c00lGUI, they did know it could be extremely damaging. 007n7 had wounds on his arms for a reason, after all.
“Isn’t that dangerous for Veeronica?” Chance asked.
007n7 looked to the side, ashamed of the truth in the question. “Yes, but she and Builderman insisted.”
“Oh? Builderman?”

Dusekkar ahead of them turned around, levitating backwards as he joined their conversation. “Did he truly?”
“Yes.” 007n7 answered. “He thought the benefits outweighed any possible negatives. But… to his point, Veeronica has not been damaged by the connection to the c00lGUI.
Dusekkar shook his head with an exasperated sigh. “Well, I still suggest that you do not listen to Builderman’s ideas of pros and cons. He ignores all cons when he sets his mind to something.”
Chance laughed at Dusekkar’s clear familiarity with who Builderman was. 007n7 instead looked more worried, eyebrows pinching together in a way that increased faint wrinkles.

Dusekkar turned back around, but floated along at a slower pace as he talked. “Is it in you two’s favor to rest now? I have my sights on this alleyway up ahead that, to my perception, is clear of snow.”
Chance nodded first. Throughout the conversation, he had begun to shiver. Not only that, but his calves ached from the extra effort the snowfall put into walking with his boots.

They came into the alleyway, standing in the middle to avoid the wind.

The alleyway was still cold. Yet, there was less wind chill, so Chance took their hands out of their pockets to instead cross their arms. “So…”
007n7’s watch buzzed. He opened the c00lGUI.
“I thought you turned notifications off?” Chance asked.
“Not all of them.”
Chance huffed. It made perfect sense that 007n7 would think to keep certain notifications on. The guy thought of everything.
Veeronica had sent a five second audio message.
007n7 quickly played it.

“HI 007, th3 oth3rs 4ar3 saying to- to tell you, uh, n3w K1ll3r! Sw0rd-” Veeronica’s glitchy voice came through.
“Is Veeronica injured? Her voice sounds to me to be malfunctioning more.”
007n7 swiped through a few things. “Yes.” He answered Dusekkar.
Chance grimaced. “And a new killer too? Ew. I want 1x1x1x1 back."

After their quick comment, Chance looked around the alleyway to occupy himself. There was a dumpster by a door. It was the only object in the alleyway. Chance walked over to the dumpster, lifting the lid slightly and peering in.
There was a mess of purple, black, and red at the bottom. Chance made a disgusted face and closed the lid. Clearly, the Spectre did not know what to put in a dumpster.
007n7, who had been conversing idly with Dusekkar, gave Chance a quick look of confusion. Chance just laughed and returned to the two. “I’m just bored. Nothing much in there.”
007n7 laughed in turn and grabbed Chance’s hand as he continued to talk to Dusekkar about Builderman.

“So, yeah, if Veeronica shows symptoms of system corruption, or whatever can happen to her, I’ll disconnect it. I’m sure she’s able to do delivery without status updates or audio messages.”
“Hey!” Chance cut in before Dusekkar could speak- the man would likely be just agreeing. “Are we ready to move out again?”
“You are restless, Chance.” Dusekkar mumbled. He then regained his usual volume. “But, yes. 007n7, you, like Chance, are made of flesh. Are you also warm enough to continue?”
“Yeah. I’m good.” 007n7 released Chance’s hand.

Chance went out first. The other two followed.
Truthfully, they planned to take them towards the hill. If they were right, down the hill was a broken down, but safe gazebo. They all could take their next rest there.

The snowfall had picked up. Chance shook off their fedora again, but he only got snowflakes stuck on his hair in the process. They made a disgruntled sound and picked up the pace.
A hand on his shoulder stopped him.
Chance stilled, then turned around to see 007n7 looking directly into his eyes. They knew 007n7 couldn’t see through the sunglasses, but their accuracy of the eye contact was unsettling.
“What?”
“What’s the rush?” 007n7 whispered, more of an answer to Chance’s question than a question of his own.
“I, uh-”
“Here, let me set the pace. We need to conserve energy, remember?.” 007n7 said, stepping in front of them. Chance let out a sigh to show his disappointment. 007n7 didn’t react to it, setting a more relaxed pace through the snow.

Chance fell in behind 007n7. They hunched over slightly, pushing their arms to the side of their body and curling their hands in their pockets into fists.
It was cold. That was all Chance’s rapidly moving mind could think about. It was like a fire alarm was going off in his head, the type of fire alarm that would scream through a room like a dying bird.

007n7 stopped.

Chance bumped into his back, then moved to the side. “What the hell are you-”

They looked down the hill.
Down the slope stood a person. Yellow hair and skin, with the hair being brighter. His skin was adorned with splotches of sparkling frost and void-like cracks that climbed up his neck. Where the cracks reached an end point, there were gentle blue flowers and black vines. The vines played around an ice crown that stood crooked on his head. She stood there in the snow, listening.
Chance made a gagging sound as they stepped back. That sound was all it took for ITrapped’s head to snap to the side. There was a flickering censor bar over her eyes.
A sword appeared in his hand. It was as dark as the cracks that ran up their neck, where no light reflected. Chance stumbled back in the snow first, then he turned and ran.

007n7 looked between Chance, who was sprinting away, and the new killer below them. Dusekkar stepped forward in front of him, raising his staff and casting a short spell onto the killer.
“007n7! I must ask that you make following Chance your new task!”
007n7 quickly processed the rhyme. He turned as well and jogged after Chance, leaving Dusekkar to distract ITrapped.

Many of them in this hell, or purgatory, had found others they knew. 007n7 had his son, Noob had Guest 666, Guest 1337 had Slasher, and now, maybe, it was Chance’s turn to receive the torment of familiarity. That’s what 007n7 figured out. He had never seen Chance sprint at the sight of a killer. They always shot first, then ran a short distance away to flip their coin for another shot.

Chance was far out of sight. 007n7 followed the footprints that had been left behind. As he went further and further, the snow calmed. His breath no longer fogged the air. The footprints lead towards an alleyway. One they hadn’t entered previously in favor of walking to where the hill sloped down.

007n7 heard the dinging of Chance’s cold coin first. Then he heard their breathless mumbles. He stopped outside the alleyway, sticking to the outer wall, and listened.
Chance was pacing, sending a crunching noise of the snow echoing out of the alleyway to 007n7. His mumbles and the flipping of the coin were out of sync, with no rhythm between the two. One was an unconscious action for comfort. 007n7 didn’t know which one.

007n7 opened his c00lGUI. Chance had begun to light up. His friend had stacked up weakness with each coin flip that landed on tails. 007n7 doubted Chance was keeping track of the results.
Chance needed a distraction.
007n7 stepped into the entrance of the alleyway as his c00lGUI faded into the air.

“Chance.” He carefully called out.

Chance whipped around. His sunglasses had slipped down, revealing wide grey eyes. Their gloved hand went to the grip of their flintlock. “Fuck off!” They shouted the moment their eyes locked onto 007n7.

007n7 gritted his teeth and moved forward. “Alright, alright. You’re fine.” He said, the comforting words more sharp if anything.
He had never heard Chance yell like that. He had heard panicked cries, agonized screams, but never a shout of both anger and panic.
He didn’t appreciate that the shout was directed at him. He was the one that had cared enough to follow them.

Chance stumbled to the wall, eyes unfocused, before they rapidly straightened up and pointed the flintlock at 007n7.
007n7 froze in place.
“What was all that in the past where you said you wouldn’t shoot near me if you could help it?” He reminded. As he spoke, his mind drifted to observe Chance’s actions.
He was acting similarly to how 007n7 was told he would be when he grew up. An incoherent mess of a person. Someone that, for those who never had similar struggles, wasn’t as human as others. They didn’t think, therefore they weren’t a person.

007n7 pressed his lips together at the comparison. None of those people were wrong. Crazy, perhaps, but not less. Chance certainly wasn’t less.
“Breathe.” 007n7 whispered as he raised his hands in the air in surrender.
Chance stood there, flintlock pointed but not aimed, arm shaking with the effort. The rapid rise and fall of his chest slowed until he took a strained, but deep, breath.
Their eyes, still wide and unblinking, stayed on 007n7 as they lowered the flintlock.

007n7 let out a breath of relief, more out of the appreciation of his own safety then the coherency Chance was regaining. He lowered his arms, but stayed where he was.
Chance watched 007n7. When they confirmed 007n7 wasn’t coming closer, their eyes visibly relaxed.
“Fuck.” He strained out. Then, in a moment of rapid movement, he threw the flintlock and the coin that had been gripped in a clenched fist when 007n7 came into the alleyway down. The thrown objects made a high-pitched noise on the stones when they hit. Chance’s free hands came up to their hair, tugging, before Chance lunged at 007n7 and grabbed his shoulders.

007n7 stumbled back. “Chance, no, don’t touch me right now. Off.” He said, shoving at Chance’s shoulder. As much as he understood Chance wasn’t in a stable mind, he didn’t want Chance to touch him. Chance gripped his shoulders harder, hard enough to hurt, before he released them and moved back. He walked directly into the alleyway, then stopped, then crouched down and grabbed at his hair again.
007n7 narrowed his eyes and finally moved forward to Chance’s side where he kneeled down.

Chance’s breathing was still audible. But, it was controlled. 007n7 hovered an arm over their back, leaving it up to Chance to accept the touch or not.
Chance moved into it. They let out a relieved sigh, then shot up.
“Wood. Knock on wood. We need luck.”

007n7 watched as they crawled over to their flintlock and knocked on the wooden stock. Their voice was still strained. It wasn’t the strain that came with Chance’s occasional excess energy, but with a confusion of how to speak and be understood.
007n7 stayed where he was, eyes narrowed as he watched Chance.
He was lucky that Chance wasn’t coherent. Otherwise, they would have argued when he had returned sharp words to Chance’s shouts.

Even now, when he spoke in a sarcastic tone, it didn’t seem to bother Chance. “You here with me?”
“Yes.” Chance answered, twisting their back around to look at 007n7. From there they turned their whole body, arms keeping them up in a curled up sitting position on the stone.

007n7 doubted that. Still, he moved forward to sit in front of Chance.
Chance looked at him, then behind them. They scooted over the stones to press their back against the wall, then kept their eyes on the entrance to the dead-end alleyway.

“When this round ends, we can go to my cabin. I’m sharing one with Dusekkar, and I’m sure he won’t mind giving you space.”
Chance’s fists clenched at the words, then unclenched when 007n7 came to sit in his view.
“But, then again, you like Dusekkar, yeah?” 007n7 said, forcing his tone soft.
“I’m not a child- kid.” Chance answered, moving his sunglasses up on his nose. “I’m crazy, not stupid.”
“You’re not crazy.”
“I am.”
007n7 shook his head. “If you were crazy, you would have shot me. You’re just…”
“Insane? Psychotic? Delusional?”
“Psychotic.”

Chance scoffed at the word, even as he knew the truth in that definition he himself had brought up. 007n7 looked around first, trying to see what Chance had been looking at before. Upon finding nothing, 007n7 slid closer. “What helps?”
“Since when did- were you like, uh, good at this? Or even knew about how to-”
“Not important, Chance.”
Chance let out a sharp, loud laugh, then quickly covered their mouth and looked around.

007n7 sighed. He pushed a hand to his forehead, reminding himself to calm down, then spoke. “Only I can hear you.”
“You don’t know that. Shh. Be quiet.” Chance whispered, looking seconds away from crawling up to press a hand over 007n7’s mouth.
007n7 nodded and went silent to appease his friend.

Time passed. Chance stayed silent and 007n7 did too. 007n7 checked the c00lGUI, swiping over to the round’s timer.
Only a few minutes left.
007n7 spun it around to show Chance. Chance looked, then nodded and stared up at the strip of sky visible above the alleyway. 007n7 dissipated the GUI once more.

“I… do want to rest in your cabin, 007.” Chance mumbled.
“Good. We’ll do that, love.”
Chance made a strained sound. 007n7 didn’t know if it was out of pleasant companionship, or if it was just a byproduct of disjointed thoughts.
007n7 asked. “What?”
Chance hummed, then leaned off the wall towards 007n7. “Do you forgive me?”
“For what?” 007n7’s tone was sharper than he intended, yet again.
“Being cold.”
“You aren’t cold.”
Chance raised his hands towards 007n7. 007n7 took one of them and felt it.
“It feels warm, even with the glove.” 007n7 concluded.
Chance felt their own hand. “Maybe.” They relented, relaxing and leaning back again. “I don’t think- know if that was the cold I meant, but I feel better, now. About it. Not in general. Not- uh- not yet.”

007n7 nodded. He couldn’t understand Chance’s words. The tone changed with each stutter or pause, and it was spoken too fast for Chance to achieve a proper pronunciation.
Like Chance, he wanted this to be over with. Once Chance’s episode blew over, they could both rest.
As the world began to fade to black from the end of the round, Chance reached over and gripped his arm.