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Guest seemed scary to a lot of people. Not only did they work under the Roblox HQ, which automatically earned them status points, they were also quiet. Not quiet in the silent way (though that was also true, considering that they were mute) but they were stoic and reserved. Everyone was held at a certain distance, making it hard to see them as more than an imposing figure at times.
Yet, Guest was not actually scary. Sure they were tall, usually had an unreadable face, and worked under the HQ's wing, but they wore casual clothes, looked out for others, and were kind. Noob learned early on that Guest was also protective and didn’t like watching people get hurt.
So, naturally, Noob decided to fuck with them.
“Ow!”
Guest immediately dropped whatever they were doing and walked over to Noob’s side, just a touch too fast to be normal. Noob was hissing as they clutched their palm, holding it close to their chest and inspecting it on their own. When Guest came closer, they turned their body so that their shoulder blocked their view.
“It’s fine,” Noob insisted, laughing a bit to cover up what little strain was in their voice. “Seriously, don’t worry about it.”
“You’re hurt,” Guest signed, careful and smooth to make sure Noob could still read it from their position. “Let me see.”
“It’s just a scratch!”
“Let me see.”
“I—“
“Noob.”
The last sign was accompanied with a gentle hand grasping Noob’s wrist, slowly turning them around so Guest could get a better look.
“…”
Noob gave Guest a guilty, but satisfied smile.
“… You lied to me,” Guest signed.
“I did not, I said it was just a scratch.”
“You acted like it was worse.”
“Oh but it is,” Noob groaned dramatically, suddenly leaning too much of their weight against Guest. They snickered a little when Guest fumbled to keep them up and supported. “It just hurts so bad!”
Guest gave Noob a deadpan stare in place of signing. Though the gig was up, Guest still didn’t let Noob fall, even for petty reasons.
Instead, they adjusted Noob to support their own weight, straightening them up until they relented and stopped leaning. Guest took another glance at Noob’s hand, reassessing the injury.
It was a tiny, faint scratch splitting the top layer of skin. It wasn’t even bleeding.
“Bad, isn’t it?” Noob asked, sighing heavily. “Just tell me doc, I can take it…”
“It’s not.”
“What— yes it is!”
“No,” Guest signed. “You’ll live.”
“Don’t injuries get infected?” Noob asked, whining just a little to get on their friend’s nerves. They watched Guest’s face twist in mild annoyance, only to settle back down with something close to tired acceptance.
After a few more seconds, Guest rolled their eyes and held out their hand with an expectant look.
Noob instantly brightened, reaching into their pocket for their small first aid kit. It was a tiny thing, filled with the bare minimum, but it was enough for when Noob got into a scrape and didn’t have any healing items on hand.
The lid flipped open with a click of plastic, revealing an array of adhesive bandages and a few sealed packets. Guest selected one of the packets and ripped it open with their teeth, letting the damp cloth inside fall into their open palm. They took Noob’s hand and gently ran the cloth over the small scratch, being thorough in their cleaning.
Guest raised a brow when Noob hissed, making Noob stumble over their words, clearly embarrassed by the involuntary sound. “It’s disinfectant! That stuff burns!”
Knowing how often Noob got themself into scrapes, they really should have been more used to the sting of disinfectant on their injuries. Guest wasn't sure if they were playing up the burning or not, but they chose not to comment on it.
The scratch was cleaned quickly, leaving only a slight damp sensation that rapidly dried up. Guest pocketed the tiny cloth to throw away later.
“You don’t need a bandage,” they signed, honestly glad that Noob didn’t horribly hurt themselves, even if they were actively blowing their minor injury out of proportion. “It will heal.”
They looked pleased, expecting Noob to drop the joke now that the first aid has been administered. Of course, Noob wasn’t going to do that.
“No bandage?!” Noob gasped. “What if it bleeds?!”
“It won’t.”
“But what if?”
“It won’t.”
“But what if I grab a rusty railing and get tetanus?” Noob asked, gesturing at a nearby railing that, earlier, had stopped them from falling off a nearby ledge and eating shit.
Guest paused for a moment. “… aren’t you up to date on your tetanus shots?”
Noob batted their eyelashes at Guest, only really understanding half of the sentence.
“…”
Guest reluctantly selected the smallest possible adhesive bandage from Noob’s kit.
Once again, Guest tore open the paper containing the bandage and gestured for Noob to give them their hand. With surgical precision and the utmost care, Guest covered the scratch with the bandage, peeling off the nonstick paper the same way Noob's only ever seen Bacon's family do.
They smoothed their thumbs over the bandage, making sure the adhesive would stick. Guest nodded slightly, satisfied that it wouldn't peel off as Noob flexed their hand.
"Okay?" Guest asked, tilting their head slightly to accompany the motion. Noob flexed their hand a few more times, twisting it this way and that to inspect their friend's handiwork.
"Hmm… It's good," Noob admitted. "But you missed a step."
Guest's satisfaction immediately soured, their expression darkening. What did they miss? They cleaned the scratch even though it would have been fine, bandaged it even though it was completely unnecessary, and apparently they needed to do more? Like what, apply a healing ointment? Guest knew for a fact that Noob did not have any healing ointments or creams in their tiny first aid kit.
"What? What did I miss?" Guest sighed, their movements jerky and exasperated.
Noob looked at Guest and, with the utmost seriousness, said: "You forgot the power of love."
Guest looked like they wanted to kill Noob right then and there. But Noob knew Guest would never even try to hurt them just for this, so Noob continued to see just how far they could push this.
“The power of love," Guest signed, their gaze cold and disappointing. Had Noob not have already been used to that look, they probably would have withered under their gaze.
“Yep!” Noob answered cheerfully instead, popping the P. “The power of love! Bacon’s dad always kisses his boo-boos.”
“That’s his dad.”
“And you’re my friend.”
Noob frowned, furrowing his eyebrows far too much to be convincing. They looked like a poor excuse of a sad clown. “Unless… you’re not my friend, and you don’t love me.”
Guest rubbed the area between their eyes, taking a small break from Noob’s theatrics.
“Noob…”
“No no— I get it. I understand how it is.”
Noob turned their back on Guest again, hunching over like a rejected lover. They even sniffled a little at the end for no reason other than to really sell the illusion.
A hand gently nudged Noob's shoulder. They turned further away.
Noob heard Guest sigh tiredly, and that same hand landed solidly on Noob's shoulder instead of nudging it. It was a wordless request and a silent signal that Guest had given in to Noob's silly demands.
Despite winning, Noob still pouted at Guest as they gently took their hand. Guest coaxed their fingers to spread out, leaving their palm open to the air.
Slowly, delicately, Guest placed a gentle kiss on the center of Noob's palm. They made sure they didn't accidentally place too much pressure on the (completely superficial) wound, glancing up to make eye contact and wait wait wait—
Noob recoiled, pulling their hand back like they had been burned. They didn't— Guest wasn't supposed to actually do it! Why did they look at them like that?!
"What the fuck was that!?" Noob asked incredulously, holding their hand close to their chest again like that would somehow protect them. It really wouldn't, Guest could easily overpower them if they really wanted to.
"You asked for it," Guest reasoned, looking just a bit too satisfied to finally see Noob off balance again. They smiled slightly as Noob continued to sputter, indignant sounds with no real meaning spilling from their throat.
"You— why did you actually do what I said?! You never do what I say!"
"You looked sad. Also you were annoying and making a scene."
Noob squinted at Guest as they signed. "Wow. Wow," They said, sounding almost insulted. "So you really don't care about me, do you?"
"Don't do this again—"
"LAALALALAALA!" Noob turned around and started jogging the other way. "I CAN'T SEE YOU I CAN'T HEAR YOU!"
"Noob! Come back!"
Guest chased after them, pocketing Noob's first aid kit before they left it behind.