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Silverr didn’t notice anything off until he had lost his match. How could he have, up on that stage, with the eyes of thousands of people watching?
He had had his own match to worry about – his own match that he lost. And he hadn’t even lost because he played worse or because he was too nervous. It was mostly just bullshit rng, nothing much he could have done differently. He was upset, of course he was, but not overly tilted over the loss.
As he settled down next to Doog to watch Feinberg play his match against Skycrab, he couldn’t help but notice a certain someone’s absence. “Have you seen Infume?”, he asked Doog, looking around the venue. “Have you talked to him after his match?”
“Huh. No, I haven’t”, Doog realised. “I don’t think I’ve seen him since he left the stage.”
“That’s so weird. Where could he be?”, Silverr contemplated, already pulling out his phone to shoot Infume a text.
“If you asked me, he probably went back to the Airbnb”, Doog shrugged, unbothered.
Silverr didn’t know what exactly it was that didn’t sit right with him. Maybe it was the well known fact that Infume didn’t handle losses well. Maybe it was the way he felt responsible for the group staying at the Airbnb. Maybe it was as simple as Silverr worrying about his friend.
By the time Feinberg and Skycrab were set up and ready to go, Infume still hadn’t answered, had shown no signs of life. Noone else in their group had seen him, none of the people sitting close by.
“You know what?”, Silverr muttered. “If he hasn’t answered after the seed, I’m gonna go look for him.”
“Ohh.” Silverr was still surprised how expressive Doog was in person. It was so different to his usual nonchalance, hidden behind a screen. Now, his face was showing his trepidation clear as day.
“What?”, he questioned flatly, his worry making him more impatient than usual. He immediately felt bad, he didn’t mean to take his bad mood out on Doogile. “Sorry”, he muttered.
Doog turned towards him, studying Silverr intently. Whatever he was looking for, he seemed to find it because he finally met Silverr’s eyes. “I just… you’re gonna be there for my match, right?”
“You know I will. I wouldn’t miss it for the world”, Silverr immediately promised.
“Not for the world, but also not for Infume?”, Doog clarified. And ohh, Silverr got it now.
“Not even for Infume”, Silverr assured. “You’re like my best friend, dude. I’ll be right here.”
“Thank you.”
It might seem like a small thing, but Silverr understood just how important this was to Doog. He knew just how jealous Doog had been of Infume, how he felt Infume was replacing him in HBG ever since he had joined. Even though Infume had shown no signs of doing that, Doog somehow had gotten it into his head and now Silverr was reaping the consequences.
It put him into quite the tricky spot now, caught between his worry for Infume and his promise to Doog. But at the end of the day, if Infume didn’t want to be found, then who was Silverr to deny him that. No matter how much he worried, Infume would have to wait. A promise was a promise after all.
That didn’t mean Silverr wasn’t out of his seat within seconds of Feinberg finishing his one cycle to win the seed. If Infume was hiding somewhere around the facility, he would much rather he be found by a friend than by a random fan or staff member. Just to be sure. And Infume still wasn’t answering his damn messages.
With a defeated sigh, Silverr clicked out of his messages, pulling up the Ranked stream instead. He didn’t care to watch if Feinberg won or lost, but he would be damned if he missed the start of Doogile’s match. He wouldn’t let another one of his friends down , not twice on the same day.
The convention venue was absolutely massive. Silverr checked every nook and cranny, every bathroom or closed door he could find. There was no Infume in sight.
Silverr felt like he had made no progress by the time Skycrab’s dragon was dead on the fourth seed. Once more, he cursed Feinberg’s inability to win, to at least push the match to a game five.
Too soon he found himself hurrying back, arriving next to the stage just in time to see Doogile stepping onto the stage to get set up. He waved at his friend, Doogile’s small answering smile perhaps the only victory he was getting today.
At least, Doog seemed to understand his urgency, pulling off a quick and clean 3-0 win. Even the commentators seemed eager to head out, keeping the winner’s interview short and sweet. It was like they could sense Silverr’s growing restlessness with every minute he didn’t hear from Infume.
It was stupid. He wasn’t even super close with Infume or anything, though he would consider them somewhat friends. For some reason he just felt responsible. This shouldn’t be getting to him like this. Why was Infume’s loss bothering him more than his own? It made no sense, really.
Doogile appeared by his side, backpack slung over his shoulder and apparently ready to go. Silverr felt ridiculously thankful for the support. If noone else had his back, he knew Doog would.
“Let’s head back”, Doog offered with a tentative smile.
“Ordering the Uber as we speak”, Silverr confirmed as they made their way out of the convention centre, doing their best to dodge the crowds. There was a time and place for taking photos with fans and it certainly wasn’t now.
The Uber ride was spent in a tense silence, Silverr’s thoughts spiralling worse and worse the longer he was left to his own devices.
“What if he’s not at the Airbnb? What if I missed him? What if he’s like, hiding in a bathroom I forgot to check?”, Silverr suddenly burst out, breaking the silence.
“Dude. Calm down, you worrying isn’t helping anybody.” Doog looked genuinely concerned now, finally realising how much this was getting to Silverr. “Infume is a big boy, he can book himself an Uber if he’s actually still there. Besides, I still think it’s far more likely he’s gonna be waiting for us.”
“No, no, you’re right of course. But what if he’s isn’t?”
“Silverr.” Doog turned towards him seriously, his hands squeezing Silverr’s own. “Breathe. We’ll figure this out.”
Silverr made a conscious effort to slow his breathing, to follow the exaggerated rhythm of Doog’s breath. He was supposed to be the strong one, the leader. How was he supposed to help Infume if he was freaking out himself? Once more Silverr found himself incredibly grateful that it was Doog by his side.
Thankfully, the ride from the convention centre to their Airbnb was short and they arrived just a couple minutes later. There were no signs of life, no lights, no open windows, no sounds coming from the place.
Silverr only realised he was still holding Doog’s hand, when he winced at Silverr’s tight grip. He hadn’t even noticed. Quickly he relaxed his grip and mumbled an apology. But he didn’t let go, selfishly wanting to keep that physical reminder that he wasn’t alone in this.
The Airbnb was just as empty and lifeless on the inside as on the outside. The door to Silverr’s and Infume’s room however was closed. As it had been earlier, but it meant that there was still one more chance. Either Infume was behind that door or they had a real problem at hand.
Silverr hesitated, hand hovering over the door knob. Not knowing was driving him insane, but knowing for sure that he had failed would be so much worse.
Doog had no such qualms, reaching past Silverr and pushing open the doors. There was a distinctly human sized lump under the bed covers, curled up and facing away from the door.
Silverr’s relief was short lived, quickly overtaken by worry at Infume’s sheer unresponsiveness. Quickly, he hurried around the bed, Doog in tow, to get to the man.
Even standing right in front of him, there was no inch of Infume that was visible. He was curled up tightly, completely hidden by the blanket and the hood of one of the oversized hoodies he loved to wear. More worryingly, he was still not showing any signs that he had noticed their entry.
Silverr felt in over his head. He could handle sadness, disappointment, even anger. But this – this lack of reaction was scaring him. Helplessly, he looked over at Doog.
For the first time that day, Doog looked as lost as Silverr felt. Fuck. That meant it was Silverr’s moment to step up, if he truly wanted to call himself a leader.
Hoping he wasn’t making things worse, Silverr finally let go of Doog in favour of settling down on the edge of the bed next to Infume. Gently, he pulled back the covers to reveal their fellow speed runner.
Infume was fast asleep, eyes staying glued shut despite the commotion. Judging by the faint tear tracks on his cheeks, it hadn’t been an easy journey to get to this point.
Silverr had to admit he was relieved for the delay he’d been granted. After all, it would be rude to wake him up now. Perhaps Silverr would try to lure him out with dinner in a bit. For now, he finally had some time to deal with his own loss. It was time for vod review.