Archive of Our Own

007n7 just did something he shouldn't have. He'd made his best friend touch the Void Star. He watched Noli warp into something foreign, consumed by darkness—thrashing, convulsing, calling 007n7's name for help.

What would he do? What could he do?

All his body allowed him to do was run. So that's what he did. He ran far. Far enough so he wouldn't see Noli anymore. Far enough for guilt to consume him.

The Void Star had taken his best friend. His only friend. The only one who'd ever cared.

Without Noli, how would 007n7 parent c00lkidd alone?

---

007n7 found c00lkidd on his doorstep in the pouring rain. The little red baby (?) still giggled and babbled despite the downpour. 007n7 hurried through his house, gathering necessities for the small child. He even called Noli for advice.

"Take him in," Noli had said.

So 007n7 did, using the blanket he found to pick him up. C00lkidd smiled and babbled, warming 007n7's heart.

Noli was once 007n7's everything, but now, he and c00lkidd shared 007n7's attention.

---

007n7 returned to the site where he'd pressured Noli to touch the Void Star. It was quiet. Peaceful, even—if you didn't know what happened there.

But he knew. And he couldn't stand the guilt. Not just losing Noli, but losing c00lkidd too. His own negligence—never destroying the c00lgui when he should've—led c00lkidd to go missing. He'd searched for days, putting up flyers, combing the neighborhood for hours, even calling Builder Brother's Pizza where they were blacklisted. Nothing came of it. If anything, he was farther from finding c00lkidd than ever.

Distraught, 007n7 lost all motivation to do anything. To live, really. Noli used to be the familiar face he could always rely on. C00lkidd was entertainment that got him through long days. Without either, what would poor 007n7 do?

He walked up and sat on the very hill where Noli was abducted, pondering his will to live. He recalled memories—the lights of his life, wondering what he'd do without them.

Knowing he'd probably never see either again, he laid down and cried. Warm tears streamed down his face, rolling down the hill. How could a grown man like him cry?

007n7 got up and ran home, hoping his house walls would comfort him.

But they didn't.

The door slammed behind him, and when he walked in, he was instantly reminded of them. Reminded it was all his fault. He could've prevented everything if he'd just been more attentive.

Maybe there was a way to see them again. 007n7 smiled at the wild thought, beginning to follow it. His body led him to the kitchen for c00lkidd's special chair, then to Noli's bedroom for rope (used for magic tricks). Finally, he went to his own room and prepared everything. He attached the thick rope to the ceiling, placed the chair underneath. Hesitantly, he stepped on the chair, having second thoughts.

No. It's too late to go back.

After getting both feet on the chair, he grabbed the rope and tied a loose slip knot around his neck. Taking a deep breath, he thought about them. He'd finally see them again.

007n7's mouth twisted into a grin before he pulled the rope tight and kicked the chair away.

Breath slowly left him. At the very end, he let out one final gasp, his mind locked on Noli and c00lkidd in his final moments–like the last few weeks.

In 007n7's room, the man hung lifeless, slightly swinging back and forth before coming to a final stop.

---

A light. All 007n7 could see was light. He reached toward it, and-

…

His eyes opened.

He got up from a bed. It was somewhat comfortable, but not his. His eyes shifted, taking in his surroundings: a bedroom with a bed, carpet, nightstand, and closet.

It couldn't be the afterlife. Too many flaws. Something in between.

Carefully, 007n7 reached for his neck. No pain. He got up, venturing through the room. Light peeked in from another room. Slowly, he pushed the door open and peeked his head through.

007n7 was surprised to see… other people? The few faces were confusing and unfamiliar, but he recognized only the pizza delivery boy from Builder Brother's Pizza. Curiously, he ambled toward the others, noticing more people than he'd initially seen.

"H-hello?" 007n7 mumbled, grabbing attention despite his low volume.

A man with blue hair wearing camouflage stood up.

"Who are you?" he questioned, firm yet somewhat authoritative.

"I'm 007n7. Why am I here? Last thing I remember is-" He stopped before revealing personal information to strangers.

"I'm Guest 1337." The man, Guest, offered a slight smile. "Me and the others don't know why we're here either," Guest added, slight perplexity in his voice. His smile slightly faltered but remained as he said the last part.

Others (not all) waved from the table: a person with a fedora and sunglasses, a guy with a sword and smirk, and some insane person who had a dagger sloppily hidden behind their back. Elliot sat at the table, staring at 007n7 with furrowed eyebrows. He said nothing.

Silence consumed the room, setting an awkward mood. Guest took that as an invitation to sit down.

"Are there others who aren't here?" 007n7 asked, half curious, half trying to break the tension.

"I believe this is all of us. There are now twelve people here, including you," Guest responded, eyes locked on the table.

"What are we doing here?" 007n7 questioned, eyes on the person who answered.

"We don't know," the person in the fedora responded, flipping a golden coin with a wicked grin.

"We all have different backstories and still ended up here. Say, what's yours?" the guy with the sword inquired.

"Well- I-" 007n7 stuttered, trying to find an appropriate way to explain.

"It's alright if you don't know," Guest interjected. "Some of us don't remember."

007n7 looked at the cold, hardwood floor. He didn't want to say anything.

"Yeah… I-I don't remember," he managed to stutter out.

He felt bad for lying but didn't want to reveal anything yet.

"You can come take a seat. I'm Chance, most of us don't bite," Chance snickered, pointing at the seat next to the person with the dagger, "but they might."

The person's grin widened as they patted the only empty seat. Next to them.

007n7, not wanting to seem rude, sat in the empty seat. The seating forced him to turn away from the other (possibly crazy) person when looking at everyone else. 007n7 knew why no one else took the seat: no one wanted to sit next to a backstabber.

"Oh yeah," Chance began, "that's Two Time. Two Time because they stabbed their boyfriend for an extra life to worship a god. They're in a cult."

007n7 laughed nervously, not knowing if that was a joke or truth. Just to be safe, he scooted his chair away from "Two Time" and closer to the person on his other side.

"So what are we gonna do? We must've been waiting for hours. But I don't mind," Two Time spoke in spurts. Their eyes were wide open, lips curved into a large smile. Creepy. 007n7 looked away.

"I guess we can go to our rooms? I'm assuming we all have our own," 007n7 suggested, still keeping a respectable distance.

"No, I like it here!" Two Time chuckled, drawing their dagger from behind their back.

"Now that I think about it, I left something in my room," 007n7 stuttered, getting up quickly.

"Maybe I can help you get it." Two Time proposed. "What did you leave in your room?" They began to get up, but 007n7 was already sprinting back to his room.

"My bravery!" 007n7 called back.

When he got to his room, he first checked around it, making sure Two Time didn't follow. The others could still see him, but only Two Time was staring. Their smile turned into a pout. 007n7 felt bad but still closed his door and locked it. He plopped onto his bed with a SPLAT!

Hey wait, that wasn't a bed. 007n7 got up. He'd fallen face-first into a muddy puddle. Getting up, he noticed the change in surroundings. The sky was dim, a contrast from the cabin he was just in. Multiple platforms and objects surrounded him, and some devices—presumably generators—hummed around him. Strangely, he also had a watch displaying a timer ticking down from about four minutes. 007n7 didn't think much and walked past a generator, noticing the wires were mixed up. He sighed and fixed it easily. Red wire to red, orange to orange, blah blah blah. After all, he was a past hacker with deep understanding of machines.

Strangely, the timer on his watch ticked down when he finished the generator—now reading about 3:15.

007n7 wandered the grounds, avoiding muddy puddles and fixing generators. He noticed other people from the table wandering around too. He shrugged. He'd probably walked out without remembering due to lack of sleep. He saw a guy with a sword (?) chasing Guest around, Guest blocking attacks. What was going on? Some elaborate prank?

007n7 noticed a health bar of his own (full) and one for most survivors he'd seen at the table. Guest's was getting pretty low—5 HP. What could 007n7 do? He examined himself, seeing something like the c00lgui but smaller. Yeah, that was it. He could only watch Guest get beat up and miss blocks, until 007n7 saw the sword guy from earlier sprint in and hit the guy chasing Guest with his own sword. It was… certainly a noble attempt, but… it missed. By at least a few meters.

"Shedletsky!" Guest scolded, facepalming while running.

"Umm… my bad gang..?" "Shedletsky" responded, shrugging while running alongside Guest.

So that was the sword guy's name. Shedletsky. Something about him felt familiar, but 007n7 brushed off the nostalgic feeling.

Seeing what the c00lgui-not-c00lgui could do, 007n7 pulled it out. His eyes scanned what he thought was a lot—in reality only two commands. He read them over: teleport or summon a clone. That was it. No cool swords, not even a plastic butter knife. Not like that would do anything. But still… how would he defend himself? Seeing Shedletsky's attempt earlier, he knew maybe the guy chasing them would kill everyone and him last.

Curiously, he decided to test the teleport ability. It took too long to load, and when it did, he was met almost face-to-face with the sword killer guy from earlier. He began to run, adrenaline spreading to his legs, before he could no longer. The killer guy was getting closer. 007n7 could only close his eyes as he felt he was about to be slashed, hand covering his face yet doing absolutely nothing. He heard intense music, and before he knew it, it all stopped. Everything.

007n7 cautiously opened one eye, then the other as they adjusted to the familiar setting of the earlier cabin. He left his room, heading back to the table where everyone was.

"What… What just happened?"

Some shrugged, but Two Time snickered.

"I don't know. I wasn't with you, but I was able to watch everything. It was hilarious!"

"We all seem to have abilities that correlate to what we used to do," Guest began. "As a veteran, I can punch and block."

"Punch and block against what?" Chance asked, mainly because he'd been so busy flipping his coin the whole time in the alternate location.

"A killer," Guest said bluntly.

"Woah, how do we know that the guy chasing you with a blade and ominous mask was chasing you?"

"Chance. Do you even hear yourself talk sometimes?" Guest asked, pinching the bridge of his nose.

"I do! Sometimes I even hear other people in my head!" Two Time explained happily.

"Uh, you should get that checked out. So when do we go home?" 007n7 asked.

"This is probably some temporary home," Shedletsky began. "We have our own rooms here, so this is probably where we're living."

"The Spawn works in mysterious ways," Two Time cackled, unstable, making 007n7 uncomfortable again. "This must be a test to find the Spawn's most devoted follower. Which would be me."

"Worst case scenario, we're stuck here forever," Shedletsky joked, hitting some guy with a construction hat in the shoulder hard with his elbow. The guy gasped in pain, grasping his shoulder.

"Oh yeah," Shed exclaimed, "this is Builderman. He was in his room earlier, so you didn't see him."

Builderman offered 007n7 a nervous smile, still clutching his shoulder.

"Nice to meet you," 007n7 smiled back. "I'm 007n7."

007n7 took his seat next to Two Time, shifting his chair away as they stared at him. Well, this certainly would be an interesting time.

---

A few weeks had presumably passed. Almost everyone was accustomed to one another, now cracking jokes with each other.

007n7 got used to his new life quickly: wake up, eat frozen food, wait, and go into a match. He didn't pay much attention to the matches and never needed to, as he was rarely targeted. Everyone called each other "survivors" and learned the names of some "killers" through "Hello my name is" name tags they wore. 007n7 was sure he hadn't seen all the killers yet, and was grateful for that. He also got used to his new c00lgui, learning how to effectively use both abilities. It turned out that any survivor's death would add time to the timer everyone had on their watches, making them stay in each "round" longer. It had never gone to a 1v1 with a survivor and killer yet, and 007n7 was grateful for that too.

There were other mechanics: medkits and Bloxy Colas that provided buffs, costumes (in closets) that gave survivors new outfits. By the end of the first month, everything became routine. Dodging became second nature, along with timing for 007n7's abilities. He never expected newer killers would be added.

One average, plain, boring day, 007n7 spawned into a match like usual. He grabbed one Bloxy Cola before Shedletsky cleared the map of everything else. Guest was likely distracting the killer, so 007n7 went to Taph for safety, who was presumably building traps. 007n7 was right, so he just stood in the little base Taph had just made. Until he noticed a slight flash of red.

007n7 did a double take. Could it be—could it be his son?

Probably not. 007n7 hadn't seen his son in the survivor's cabin. And also, he was missing, probably still alive in the real world, not in this Hell.

Guest suddenly ran up toward 007n7. "Do you happen to have a medkit I could use? This must be some new killer."

"Sorry. Shed probably has one though."

Guest groaned before running in the opposite direction.

007n7 thought back on what Guest had said—a new killer? A red figure quickly moved past him. A walkspeed override from the original c00lgui, 007n7 was sure of it. His eyes locked on the figure itself. It couldn't be. 007n7 wiped his eyes, which suddenly began brimming with tears. It was c00lkidd. His c00lkidd. His son.

007n7 watched c00lkidd dash toward Guest, hitting him before he could react. Guest blocked c00lkidd's next attack and parried, giving him enough time to run away. 007n7 watched it all happen. He felt so many things: guilt for turning c00lkidd into whatever he was now, anger (yet understanding) toward Guest for hitting his son, and curiosity—wondering if Noli was still out there.

He didn't notice c00lkidd moving toward him until an unexpected voice spoke behind him.

"Hiya dad! Isn't this fun?" c00lkidd exclaimed in his joyous, playful, annoyingly high-pitched voice.

"C-c00lkidd?" 007n7 almost sobbed.

"Tag, you're it!" c00lkidd shouted, landing a quick walkspeed override on his dad.

007n7 didn't move. He couldn't bring himself to stop looking at... the thing he helped raise. He missed his son very much, but... he hated to say it, but he didn't know if that was his son.

So 007n7 stood there, frozen, letting c00lkidd just hit him. He ran out of HP quickly and blacked out. The last thing he remembered was c00lkidd slamming him on the ground gently and finishing him off.

---

007n7 didn't die often. Usually, the sentinels Guest and Chance died first, always putting others before themselves. When 007n7 did end up dying, it was because the killer spotted him and targeted him early. No matter what happened, though—regardless of death or win—the survivors would always wake up immediately after in their bed, any brutal death feeling like some strange phantom dream.

For 007n7, this wasn't any different. He rose up cautiously and walked to the general area of the cabin to spectate. He saw c00lkidd's signature smile, now exceedingly large and locked on his face forever. 007n7 still felt nothing but guilt and sadness. He'd never be able to have a normal experience with his son again.

---

Days began to fly by again, and c00lkidd was added to the killer rotation. Every time he was the round's killer, 007n7 made sure to never resist. He let c00lkidd do whatever he wanted and stayed still, which always led to his death. The other survivors noticed and decided to ask 007n7 about it after it had gone on for a while. They chose Guest to talk to him.

After one particularly difficult round with c00lkidd—part of the difficulty from 007n7's premature death—Guest decided to interrogate 007n7. He waited to get 007n7 one-on-one because it would likely make talking easier.

Guest found the perfect moment when it was both late at night and early in the morning. The prior match ended, and Guest pulled out his seat.

"Hey," Guest spoke, getting situated in his usual chair.

007n7 looked around. No one was in the general area—it was pretty early. Being a father meant waking up early; the habit just stuck with 007n7.

"Hi," 007n7 responded, staring straight ahead at nothing.

"I wanted to ask you about c00lkidd," Guest began, nervously glancing around for nothing. "Did you know him before we got here?"

"I—" 007n7 began.

"I know you said you don't remember, and it's fine if you don't. The others and I are just wondering why you don't fight back against c00lkidd specifically."

"I remember everything," 007n7 admitted. "You deserve to know, especially with how many times you've saved my ass." He sighed. "He's my son."

"I thought so," Guest replied. "I thought I was delusional for hearing him call you 'dad.'"

"Is that all?"

"I have more questions, if you'd be alright with me asking."

"Go ahead."

"How did a child like c00lkidd end up in a place like this?" Guest looked up, eyebrows slightly furrowed.

"Let's say I used to be a hacker, along with someone else."

"C00lkidd's mother?"

007n7 laughed—not just a chuckle, but full-on laughter that made him cover his face.

"I wish," 007n7 joked. "Noli. He was basically c00lkidd's other parent."

"You're gay?" Guest questioned. "Not to be rude."

"Honestly, I was so busy parenting that I don't even know anymore. I stopped hacking when someone left c00lkidd on my doorstep. My best friend, Noli, was constantly watching c00lkidd when I was busy."

"Interesting," Guest commented. "C00lkidd was adopted?"

"He was adopted. He is my son. I've realized he's still my son, no matter what happens to either of us."

Guest smiled at 007n7's words but wondered how he could still love someone who had inflicted so much pain. He was about to ask something, but 007n7 spoke first.

"I used to use a hacking GUI called the c00lgui. C00lkidd managed to get his hands on the main one. The one I use now is a very small version of the original."

"So how did c00lkidd get here? Did he hack his way here?"

"Not exactly," 007n7 corrected. "I personally don't know myself, though. He went missing along with the original c00lgui, and I haven't seen him since. Until a few weeks ago."

"What about you?" 007n7 reciprocated.

"I fought in a war. I don't remember much. It's been too long."

"I didn't remember anything when I got here," 007n7 lied. "It all came back to me when I saw c00lkidd."

007n7 didn't know why he'd just lied. Maybe he didn't want to reveal his tragic backstory.

"It'll come back to me then too, perhaps," Guest responded calmly. "Thank you for answering my questions. I should head to bed so I can be on top of my game tomorrow."

"Of course," 007n7 smiled, waving to Guest even though he didn't see.

007n7 sighed deeply. He missed Noli greatly and wished he could undo what he'd done. If Noli was still there, c00lkidd wouldn't have been on the killers' side.

007n7 dropped his head on the table and closed his eyes with the intent to think—not with the intent to fall asleep, which is what he did instead.

---

007n7 awoke with a yawn,. He got up to go to the general survivor area like usual, but was surprised to already be there. He noticed everyone was also there, finding out when Two Time greeted him. 007n7 awkwardly waved back in a slow, cautious manner that didn't exactly scream "nervous" but still kind of did. He settled back down into his seat and decided to wait for the next round. It came pretty quickly, but he still passed the time by listening to interesting conversations between other survivors. For example, the conversation between Chance and Taph was nonexistent because Chance was flipping his coin and Taph is mute.

Another round began. It wasn't just routine anymore—it replaced 007n7's old nine-to-five, something he'd dreaded doing but had to do for c00lkidd.

007n7 spawned in a new location with his fellow survivors. He spotted a medkit and snatched it up before Shedletsky did.

"Come on man, at least share your medkit!" Shedletsky whined.

"I see your fried chicken. Trade?"

Shedletsky ran off.

007n7 smiled and began doing generators.

Generators were easy at this point. Being already skilled in electronics, they were initially easy, but doing them often made them even easier.

The generator finally finished and spewed out strange, loud glitching sounds. Wanting to troubleshoot it, 007n7 stepped closer. Only for... only for a familiar figure to step out and chase him.

Same mask and crooked smile. It was undoubtedly Noli.

007n7 stood with his mouth agape. Noli stepped forward, about to hit 007n7, but was suddenly stopped by Guest's charge. Noli's "body" ragdolled and hit the floor, lifeless.

It had just been a decoy. After all, no way Noli was in a place like this.

007n7 began to search the map, doing every generator he saw. Some summoned fake Nolis, some just reset and wasted time, while some were real. It was difficult to tell, but based on what 007n7 could see so far, fake generators had slightly discolored wires.

As 007n7 finished the last generator, which happened to be real, 007n7 encountered another Noli.

“Shed!” 007n7 called out. “There's another clone!”

The Noli stepped closer and cackled. Like a crazy Two Time cackle, just somehow creepier.

“CLONE?” Noli giggled.

007n7 froze. That voice. It sounded so real. When Shedletsky dove in and missed his sword slash again, (even though Noli wasn't moving,) Guest rushed in and hit the clone. The thing is, it wasn't a clone. Guest merely stunned the real killer.

“It's a little rude to disrupt someone while talking, is it?” Noli interrogated, shooing Shed and Guest away. “I won't hurt him, so don't make me hurt you.”

They backed away slowly. Guest's eyes were still locked on the killer, prepared to charge forward if the killer did something bad happened to 007n7.

“So where was I before your little survivor friends ruined the moment?” Noli muttered to himself.

007n7 was in actual shock. He reached out a hand to touch Noli's skin, but suddenly retracted it.

He was surprised to feel Noli's skin anyway, noticing that Noli had grabbed his hand.

“Don't be shy to touch me. You know what they say, right?” Noli snickered. “‘Bros before hoes.’”

Noli walked forward, making 007n7 back up into a wall.

“How did you- the Void Star- I-”

007n7 had tried to get so many of his thoughts out at once, unable to do so.

“One thought at a time,” Noli spoke, looking at his own watch-timer. “Besides, we have—50 seconds.”

With a sigh, Noli turned around. “Wait here. I'll get us some more time.”

He took off, using a very fast dash.

“Alright,” 007n7 mumbled. How would he even lengthen the time? 007n7 thought to himself.

007n7 thought to himself a little longer, finally using his critical thinking.

“No… Wait!” 007n7 shouted, pushing off the wall he was leaning on and sprinting the way Noli went just moments prior.

The thing was, the only way to lengthen the round time was for the killer to kill other survivors.

But it was too late.

Elliot was the only one left besides 007n7, hunched in a corner.

Noli approached 007n7 when he noticed him, a devilish smile painted on his face, like the streaks of blood on his clothing and purple skin.

“So, you were saying? And didn't I tell you to stay there?” Noli questioned, almost again face-to-face with 007n7. Too bad Noli was towering over the other, glancing down to look at 007n7.

“I-I’m sorry,” was all 007n7 was able to say. He was about to say more, but he couldn't.

“Okay, whatever, I forgive you, blah blah blah. Anything else?” Noli asked.

007n7 shook his head, but was certainly surprised by how easily he was forgiven for basically taking the rest of Noli's life.

“Excellent. My turn!” Noli playfully added.

Noli had 007n7 on the wall again, just like the position they were in before. 007n7 looked to his right.

Noli grabbed 007n7's jaw, keeping it in place to study his features, while also forcing 007n7 to look at him.

007n7 just stood frozen, unknowing what to do as Noli examined the rest of his body.

Noli’s fingers traced the line of 007n7’s shoulder, down his arm, then back up to cup his face again. The touch was gentle, almost tender, but there was something hungry in the way Noli’s purple eyes lingered.

“You really haven’t changed,” Noli repeated, softer this time. “Still the same scared hacker.”

007n7 swallowed. “Noli-”

“You know why I stuck around, right?” Noli’s thumb brushed 007n7’s cheek. “All those years. Watching c00lkidd with you. Being c00lkidd's other dad. Staying up until 3 AM fixing your spaghetti code.”

007n7’s breath hitched. He’d never let himself think about it—never let himself wonder why Noli never dated, never brought anyone home, never seemed to want anything but their little makeshift family.

“I had a crush on you,” Noli said, like he was stating the weather. Simple. Factual. “A stupid, pathetic, hopeless crush. That's why I never left. That's why I let you drag me into every dumb scheme. That's why I touched the Void Star when you asked me to.”

The words hung in the air, sharp and real. 007n7 felt them slice through the numbness he’d wrapped around himself.

“You… what?”

Noli snorted, a familiar sound that made 007n7’s chest ache. “Oh, don't give me that. It was painfully obvious. Like, embarrassingly obvious. I learned how to change diapers for our kid. I watched eight seasons of that stupid sci-fi show that you and the kid liked even though I hate spaceships.”

007n7 blinked. “I thought… I thought you liked that show?”

“I fucking hate spaceships, 007. I watched it because you and the kid, mostly you, would get all excited and talk about the lore for hours. I stayed over every weekend even when you didn't ask. How much clearer did I need to be? Should I have written ‘I HAVE A CRUSH ON YOU’ in the sky with fireworks?”

007n7’s face heated. Now that Noli said it… now that he laid it all out like that…

“I… I didn't realize,” he mumbled, feeling stupider by the second.

“No shit,” Noli said, but there was no real bite to it. “You were too busy with your life. Too busy feeling guilty about everything. Too busy running from your own shadow to notice someone was running right beside you.”

He leaned in, his forehead almost touching 007n7’s. His voice dropped to a whisper.

“I loved you. Still do, somewhere in this messed-up purple skin. Even now, even after everything, you ask me to die, and I die. Because apparently I'm a fucking idiot who never learned how to say no to you.”

“Just… stand there. Don't move. Don't run. In forty-five seconds, you wake up in your bed. Simple.”

The silence stretched between them. 007n7 wanted to say something. Anything, but the words caught in his throat.

"Forty-five seconds," Noli said quietly, his voice slightly muffled behind the smooth white porcelain mask. Only his violet eyes were visible through the slits, and they were fixed on 007n7's lips.

007n7's pulse thrummed loudly in his ears. He stared at Noli. Noli who loved him, Noli who forgave him, Noli who died for him, now wearing that eerie, expressionless mask.

Before his brain could catch up, before logic could scream, 007n7 surged forward.

He reached up, hesitated for a heartbeat, then gently pushed the mask up just enough to reveal Noli's mouth, the familiar curve of his lips, now tinged with that same unnatural purple as his skin.

Then he kissed him.

Hard. Desperate.

The porcelain was cool against 007n7's fingers. Noli's lips were warmer than he expected.

It lasted barely two heartbeats. 007n7 pulled back instantly. Face flushed, shame and fear flooding in. He let the mask fall back into place.

"Sorry- fuck- sorry–" he stammered, backing up.

But Noli was staring through the mask, stunned, breath catching audibly behind the porcelain, violet eyes wide with something unreadable.

Then the world dissolved.

Light flooded his vision.

And 007n7 woke up gasping in his bed alone, heart pounding, lips tingling, the cool ghost of porcelain still on his fingertips.

007n7 laid in his bed, eyes wide, staring at the ceiling, his mind on everything but the ceiling. On what he’d just done. On how he’d kissed Noli. On how he… wanted to do it again.

He got up, deciding he was hungry. Maybe Shed hadn’t eaten all the pizza this time. The thought vanished when he saw the entire pizza piled on Shedletsky’s plate.

But no one’s eyes were on Shedletsky, or his pizza. They were all locked on 007n7. Except for Shed’s. His eyes were fixed on the beautiful, mouthwatering sight before him.

“What was that at the end of the match?” Chance chuckled, still flipping a golden coin between his fingers.

“Haha- maybe you’re c00lkidd’s mother- haha- and maybe he's c00lkidd’s dad,” Two Time hyperventilated, halting every few words.

007n7’s hands flew to cover his face, which was turning red with embarrassment.

“Guys, he’s- he’s still technically my best friend. Actually, I don’t know anymore,” 007n7 uttered, his voice faltering on the last sentence.

“Ts is peak rizz,” Shedletsky started through a mouthful of pizza. “Did you see how he pwned us to have more time with you?”

“Um, what does ‘ts’ and ‘rizz’ mean?” 007n7 questioned, scratching his head.

Guest just facepalmed.

“He’s saying there was ‘chemistry in the air’ between you and Noli.”

“Oh.”

Shedletsky began joking. “You know, if things don’t work out, I have a buddy who I can-”

“He’s mine,” 007n7 stated, almost instinctively. Then, softer: “I mean- he’s only got eyes for me.”

Some survivors awwed at the comment. Others laughed. One thing was certain: Two Time was definitely laughing like the maniac they were.

It made 007n7 want to curl into a ball. The only other thing he really wanted right then was to see his c00lkidd- or his Noli.

He knew he’d dread the time without either of them, just like when he was alive. But now he understood: Noli had waited years for him to notice. He could wait a few more rounds.