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“Which server do you belong to?” Zam asks, biting into her steak as Flow sits on the opposite side of the table, eating his own. For a moment, he chews his food before realizing Zam is actually asking him a question and isn’t just talking about the random shit that comes through her hair. “Uh, you talking to me?” Flow asks as Zam nods.
“I am, just asking. You came from Strength, right?” She tilts her head with a hum, and Flow nods. “Yeah, man, I came from Strength. That’s your answer.” Flow says with a grin, looking proud of himself as Zam snorts at that and nods.
“Well, that’s nice. I guess I won’t have to worry about you, hm?” Zam goes back to her food as Flow gives her a strange look.
Worry about him? Why would she even have to worry about him? He’s a grown-ass man! “What’s that supposed to mean?” Flow asks, tilting his head as Zam just snorts. “Don’t take it the wrong way. I know you’re a good player, a good fighter too.” She waves her knife. “But here in Lifesteal, it isn’t just a game, you know.” She smiles at him in that strange, sleazy way she loves to do whenever she’s planning something. Flow frowns at that.
“Lifesteal takes a heavy toll on most players’ mental and physical health. There is a reason why some Lifesteal players have left and never came back.” She continues with a hum as she turns back to her food, eating once more while Flow watches her.
“I can handle it.” He says with a grin. “Why? You think I can’t? I just killed a bunch of players a day ago. No one wants to mess with me now.” He smirks as Zam chuckles again at that.
“Good, good. I don’t doubt that. Before then, you were just a guest and you exceeded my expectations, so I don’t doubt your skills.” She giggles as Flow nods, basically preening at the compliment.
“I guess, in a way, Strength is almost like Lifesteal, no? So I suppose I won’t be worried because you have people to fall back on if Lifesteal gets a bit too much, then? Surely you got a family back at Strength?” Zam tilts her head. “Like mine. I usually take breaks every few weeks from Lifesteal with my friends. We have our own private servers where we can relax and play normally.”
She nods to herself as Flow blinks at her. Someone to fall back on in Strength? A family? “I—” Flow stutters, his breath catching in mild confusion. Why would he even need that? He can handle himself.
“You do have that, right? You’ve been a player on Strength for a year now, and I’ve heard Tai only lets players in that he knows very well, which could mean you are all very tight-knit. Am I right?”
Zam looks at him with a strange expression as Flow avoids her eyes, opting to eat his food instead, stuffing it into his mouth so he doesn’t have to respond yet. Which gives him some time to think of an answer to her question.
There isn’t really much to say about Strength—at least for Flow.
He enjoys this server a lot, more than Lifesteal if you ask him. Of course, he’d secretly tell you that. Considering Lifesteal is a much more famous and well-known server than Strength, quite large too, with so many good players living on it and coming on every so often.
But nothing can really beat Strength for him. Before Strength, and even before Lifesteal, he’d been in countless—multiple servers, and had even helped build some of them just for the love of the game. But nothing really beats Strength. There is just that deep, unsated hunger in him that always gets sated the moment he steps into the server.
Sure, the people in there don’t really like him that much, considering the first time he stepped inside the server was through illegal means. He wasn’t invited, yet he still went anyways.
Outside Strength, he doesn’t have other servers he really frequents on, at least not permanently (hopefully) like he does on Strength. It’s always mostly temporary at best. He gets invited to be a guest on multiple server events and gets kicked off the moment it’s done, and he doesn’t really take offense to any of those. I mean, it was a short bit of fun, and he likes short fun. He applies for other events that he isn’t even invited to just to have fun and temporarily connect with players.
In a way, it’s a bit desperate, but there isn’t really anything for Flow to do outside of fighting for rank. And… wow. That really is kind of pathetic.
Does he even have friends?
Surely he can consider the members of Strength his friends, right? Not that any of them had outwardly said it, but even with all the fighting he does with almost every member, he would never hesitate to drop whatever he’s doing at the moment if they needed his help.
He respects them very much, though he doesn’t really know if it’s the same for them—and as for the other players he’d met on every server… It’s pretty hard to say that they’re his friends, considering that with most of them, he hadn’t even known them for a year. Maybe acquaintances at best, but not really friends.
“Uh… uhm—yeah, I think so,” Flow says, dumbly as ever. Zam perks up at that, already looking worried, but Flow’s answer makes her look relieved.
“Really? Great—great, that’s good. It’s my job to worry about the players here on Lifesteal. Don’t feel uncomfortable talking to me if you need help in any way, physically or mentally. I’ll be here to talk.” Zam smiles as Flow chooses to stay silent and nods slowly at that, unsure of what to say.
Should he say thank you or something? For a server known to be kill or be killed, they’re pretty woke about stuff like this.
“I just want to make sure everyone here is comfortable, you know,” Zam says. “So don’t be shy,” she adds. “You aren’t shy to tell me whatever is bothering you, right?” She lowers her head and looks him in the eyes as Flow shakes his head. “No—I–I can do it. But right now, I’m having a lot of fun.” He smiles, and Zam smiles at that, her eyes crinkling.
“Good,” she says. “Now eat your food before it gets cold, then you go home to SB and get some rest. Tomorrow is going to be a brand-new day.”
Flow nods at that and focuses on his food—or at least tries to. He can’t help but fall into his thoughts. Zam had opened up a lot of questions in his head all of a sudden, and now he suddenly feels self-conscious.
About what? He isn’t sure yet.
“Hey, Flow, you’re back. How was your lunch with Zam? She didn’t go crazy on you too much, hopefully?” SB greets him the moment Flow enters the house. The older man is enchanting some armor by the enchanting area, humming under his breath as he glances at Flow, who closes the door behind him. His face looks a little… worried? Pensive? Confused? It’s hard to say. Flow himself doesn’t really know how to explain what he’s feeling.
“Hey, Uncle. Uh, nah, she’s all good. She gave me the talk about going to her if I need someone to talk to.” Flow says, mumbling a bit as he approaches the other man, who hums while looking back at his work.
“Oh, good, good. I was wondering when she was going to give you that talk, or if it would have to be me. Which I don’t mind, of course. But it’s her job as the face of Lifesteal,” SB says.
“You’re one of the owners. I don’t know what to tell you about that.” Flow snickers a bit.
“Still, Zam is clearly more well-known than I am, so I don’t mind letting her handle the reins. But of course, I’m also offering you a listening ear if you ever need help. After all, you’re my teammate as well.” SB smiles at Flow, who hesitantly returns it.
SB tilts his head. “What’s wrong? You’re wearing a strange face.”
He lowers the chestplate he’s been enchanting as Flow rubs the back of his neck, looking down a little.
“No, it’s nothing—it’s just… Zam talked about this… falling back on the people who care about you if Lifesteal gets a bit too much…” he says.
SB’s expression grows concerned.
“You don’t have one?” he asks.
Flow startles at that. “No!” he says quickly, making SB flinch in surprise as Flow’s eyes widen.
“Sorry—but I meant, I have friends, don’t worry. It’s just… uh… I mean, it can’t be that bad, you know? Here in Lifesteal, I came from Strength, and it’s just the same thing, after all. I think I can handle myself.” He chuckles awkwardly.
SB lets out a soft sigh, offering Flow a small, reassuring smile.
“Trust me, Flow. Even the strongest man with the strongest will can’t handle these kinds of servers alone. It’s better to have those kinds of people you trust close by and within reach. Do your friends know you joined Lifesteal? You should tell them, so they can be prepared to take you home if things get a bit too heavy or wild here.” SB tilts his head as he looks at him.
Flow nods. “Uh, yeah. I do. I do.”
Which isn’t really true.
No one in Strength knows he’s at Lifesteal. At least, no one besides the other Strength members who had joined Lifesteal as well: Loppezz, Luigi, Epax, and Leek. He’s come across them and killed a few of them a bunch of times now, but he’s never actually had a real conversation with any of them yet.
It’s kind of depressing, in a way. The thought makes something in his chest tighten and his stomach cramp strangely, like the food he ate earlier suddenly isn’t sitting right.
“Good. Anyways—how about you help me enchant some stuff here?” SB says with a cock of his head.
Flow nods.
For almost the entire day, he chooses to help Uncle with his tasks. He should probably consider going out and getting more hearts for himself and his team, but for some reason, after that conversation with Zam and SB, there’s this wrong feeling settling in his body.
Something he didn’t really expect.
He’s always been the kind of guy who lets things roll off his shoulders and back. You could call him all sorts of heinous and hurtful names, and he wouldn’t care. That’s just how it is if you want to be the best of the best, after all. You don’t let hateful comments hurt you. You use them as motivation to win more fights.
He’s good like that. But that’s not what Zam was talking about She was talking about the fact that he needed people he could lean on when things came to a head. People he could fall back on when everything became too much.
Which is something he’s never really had, not at any servers, and definitely not on Strength. And he doesn’t think he ever will have.
He has acquaintances and maybe friends at Strength—maybe is a stretch.
Hopefully is probably the better word.
He does see most of them as friends. Take Jude, for one. He’s known him since before Strength and had played with him plenty of times. Jude had even invited him a couple of times to join his little band of trapper friends. Then there’s Sharpness, who he often takes out on food trips outside of Strength just so he can actually—like, actually—eat human food instead of the genuine garbage slop he calls homemade food, which could probably kill an elephant just from the smell alone.
Then there’s Tai. He’s trained with him a couple of times and taught him some things he knows. There’s Leek, who was actually the one who let him bypass the Strength whitelist so he could get in. Then there’s Sword, who Flow helped out when he first joined Strength.
He’s come across almost everyone on the damn server, and he’d like to think he’s at least made friends with a few of them. Enemies, too, of course, but at the end of the day, everyone knows that everything that happens in Strength isn’t serious.
Right?
Flow lies on his bed, staring up at the dark ceiling. The blinds over his window are drawn, though every so often, a passing breeze makes them flutter, letting slivers of moonlight into the room. For some reason, he can’t fall asleep.
The question keeps persisting in his head like some weird, brain-eating amoeba that refuses to let go of him.
Does he actually have a friend he could fall back on if everyone turned against him? Someone he could trust completely? Does he have one—or better yet, two—people he could trust that much, knowing they would trust him just as deeply in return?
Flow lies there in silence, staring at the ceiling.
…
…
…
…
Fuck. He can’t sleep at all.
Flow groans, throwing his arms over his face as he flips onto his side, grabbing his communicator from the side. He flips it open, letting out a shaky breath, his eyes wincing a bit when the bright light flashes into his retinas, slightly burning them. He quickly turns down the brightness to see the Strength General, finding nothing out of the ordinary aside from people killing each other from time to time, someone asking for materials, and so on and so forth.
He reads through the chat, eyeing the names and thinking about how close he is to each of them, and none of them can really be considered a friend at all. Not only does he not know what their favorite colors are, he doesn’t even know what food they like, which server they came from before Strength—
He literally knows nothing about them…
Doesn’t that mean they don’t know shit about him, either? Maybe he isn’t as faithful to the server as he believes himself to be. Before Lifesteal, he’d always been active at Strength. Strength was the only permanent thing in his life, along with the members of it.
So why the hell does he not know anything about them?
…
…
…
It’s easy.
No one likes him.
That thought sends Flow almost dropping his communicator onto his face as he lets out a choked-out noise at his realization—a stupid realization, in fact. People hating him? He never cared shit about that. He’s used to being hated. Why is this any different, anyways?
Clearly I want friends—I need friends. Flow thinks to himself pathetically. After all those years he’s been alone, this might be the first time he’s been struck with loneliness in a server filled with so many people.
Flow switches to some of his direct messages, which are kinda dry as fuck. No one had messaged him throughout the time he’d been busy. He scrolls a bit, seeing that his and Tai’s last messages were, sadly, two months ago.
And it’s Tai telling him to die.
Flow winces a bit at that, then moves to Jude’s. Their last conversation was actually a week ago, thankfully. But it was him congratulating Jude on winning one of Beast’s challenges and Jude sending him a lazy thanks.
This isn’t a good example. Jude’s a lazy replier. He always texts as short as possible.
Flow thinks to himself with a small frown.
He moves to Sharpness’. Their last conversation (which was one sided on Sharp’s side since he had been busy to check his DMs) was actually just three days ago, with Sharpness asking him when he’s coming back and asking how he’s doing outside of Strength. Flow doesn’t remember if he’d told him a sliver about joining Lifesteal, but by the looks of it, he hadn’t, because Sharpness kept asking him where he was and when he was coming back—
Flow closes his communicator and drops it onto his chest as he stares at the dark ceiling.
“Maybe I should go back tomorrow,” Flow mutters to himself emptily, though feeling a bit glad that at least someone wants him back.
[...]
It was ass crack in the morning when Flow decided to leave SB’s base. He kicked random rocks along the ground, checked the enchantments on his armor, then his sword, then SB’s spare gear. Before heading out of the base again, he decided to take a small leisure walk until SB woke up.
“Why are you awake so early, Flow?” SB greeted him by the door, holding two mugs filled with coffee. He handed one to Flow, who muttered a small thank you.
“I think I want to go back to Strength in the meantime,” Flow says after a few quiet moments, when SB had led him toward their farm so they could sit and wait for the sun to rise and hit their faces.
“Oh? Something wrong?” SB turned to him, looking worried, as Flow simply shook his head.
“Nothing like that. Just… I need some time for myself. I think I realized some stuff… some crazy stuff.” Flow sipped his coffee quietly as SB fell silent at that.
“Do you need someone to talk to?” SB asked, but Flow just shook his head. “Not really.”
SB hummed at that, sounding relieved. “Alright—but if you need me, I’m here, okay?” he said softly. Flow quickly blinked, his eyes suddenly feeling hot as a brief wave of loneliness washed over him like a sickness.
“O-Okay.” Flow’s voice cracked as he refused to glance back at SB, who gave him another worried look.
“Flow,” he started. “If something is wrong, you gotta tell me.”
Flow nodded, blinking quickly to keep the building tears at bay. He sniffed a little and drank his coffee instead as SB leaned over to get a better look at him, only for Flow to look away.
“I’m fine. Just… some stuff came up, and I really wanna see a friend right now,” Flow muttered, and SB let out a soft sigh.
“I’m here. Always.” He reached over to gently pat Flow’s shoulder, his hand grasping it steadily as Flow hummed and nodded.
Later, Flow found himself throwing all his shit into his ender chest—his armor, weapons, tools, golden apples, everything—as he prepared himself for probably three days off of Lifesteal, or maybe a whole week. He wasn’t sure yet. He had to figure out how much time he needed to combobulate himself. He wouldn’t be able to get more hearts if he was in this kind of mindset anyway.
When he visited Zam’s place, he saw her tending to her flowers—which was pretty rare. Most of the time, she was busy reigning hell on every single member of the server, so seeing her doing this was a surprise in itself.
“Flow!” She perked up when she saw him, and Flow waved.
“Hey. I was thinking that I might be out for a few days. I’m not sure how many, but I just wanted to give you a heads-up before leaving,” Flow said as Zam lowered her watering can and tilted her head.
“I see. That’s understandable. What for, anyways? Personal?” Zam asked.
“Eh… personal.” Flow cleared his throat as he averted his gaze from her.
Zam gave him a look for a moment before simply going, “Alright. If you need someone to talk to, I’m here.” She smiled at him calmly as Flow nodded.
“Thanks.”
<Flowtives> hey sharpy baby boy
<Flowtives> u der?
<conexion> flowwwww
<conexion> where have you been :(((
<conexion> ive been messaging you for so long!!!!
<Flowtives> yeah sorry about that
<Flowtives> i joined lifesteal
<conexion> O
<conexion> WHAT
<conexion> CONGRATSSSS
<conexion> I DIDNT KNOW U GOT IN \o/!!!
<conexion> when??????
<conexion> is that why you've been gone for so long??
<Flowtives> yeah, i havent been able to check my stuff in a while
<conexion> thats okay
<conexion> but when is lifesteal season gonna end?
<Flowtives> bro the season just started
<conexion> :((
<conexion> bruh
<Flowtives> im coming back though for a break
<conexion> RLLY?
<conexion> now?
<Flowtives> yeah i need a break, lifesteal is crazy, it messes with your mind and shit
<conexion> there a mind reader there? also yayyy, we gotta hang out then
<Flowtives> no bruh… no, not that
<conexion> XDD
<conexion> im kidding
<Flowtives> can i stay with you when i get back
<Flowtives> you live with twirps right?
<conexion> :ooo
<conexion> hell yeahhh lesgooo baconator duo again :DDD
<Flowtive> tysm ong
<conexion> >:PPP
Being on Strength after being in Lifesteal for months is weird. The air felt clearer in Strength than it did on Lifesteal. There wasn’t that strange haze that seemed to follow him around ever since he had entered the server. And for some reason, the air here on Strength felt much clearer and cleaner.
I was just homesick, Flow thought to himself, not really sure what to feel about that fact. Seeing Strength as his home, knowing full well that he wasn’t even sure if Tai would still invite him onto the server next year since he’d joined Lifesteal as well. That thought, for some reason, sent a strange emotion through his chest that made his legs feel weak and his head ache a bit.
“Flow! You’ve been gone for sooo long!” Sharpness greeted him the moment he entered the server, jumping toward him and giving him a tight hug. Flow hugged back just as tightly. Sharpness stepped back, cocking his head. “You alright?” he asked, as Flow just gave him a forced smile and shrugged.
“I’m fine—just… a little drained from Lifesteal. You know how it is.” Flow shrugged as Sharpness gave him a strange look.
“You sure? You sound….” He trailed off, tilting his head to the other side as he blinked at Flow.
“Sound?” Flow asked.
“Sound off, but—I mean, it’s okay. You want to head to Twirps’ house to rest first?” he asked, jutting his thumb back as Flow let out a small sigh and nodded.
“Yeah, we should…” he said, and they started walking. “What have you been up to?” he asked.
“I got killed a lot of times,” Sharp muttered with a pout, as Flow snorted at that.
“When do you not?” he muttered, as Sharp pouted at him. Flow just gave him a grin.
It didn’t really take them long to reach Twirps’ base. They mostly talked about what had been happening in their respective servers, which wasn’t a lot on Sharp’s side since most players had been on and off on Strength, while Flow just had too much shit going on in Lifesteal to even update anyone at all.
By the time they got to Twirps’ base, Flow was practically ready to lay on the floor with how tired he was. And he had no clue why he felt so tired. Usually, he could go on for more than a few days without sleep. But he was just so tired today for some reason.
“You got a guest room around here? I feel fucking tired, man. It’s like I didn’t get any sleep at all, I don’t know,” Flow muttered, rubbing his eyes as Sharpness hummed and led him to a small room. There was a red bed in one corner and a white one in the other.
“It’s my room. We don’t have a guest room here, but I made you a bed,” Sharpness said, patting his back as Flow nodded, shooting him a small smile. He didn’t hesitate to shed his jacket, leaving himself in just a shirt as he threw it by the foot of the bed and crashed onto it tiredly, slipping off his hat and throwing it to the side with a muffled groan.
Sharpness chuckled from behind him, opening his wardrobe and taking out a few spare clothes for Flow to wear.
“You should take a bath first before resting. Twirps will be back with dinner maybe,” Sharpness said as Flow sat up a bit at that.
“Yeah… Alright, sure,” Flow sighed as he threw his legs off the bed. Sharpness dropped his clothes beside him with a dull thump before sitting on his bed.
“So you gonna tell me what happened back at Lifesteal for you to look like that?” Sharpness asked as Flow raised his head to meet his eyes.
“Nothing happened,” he said.
Sharpness hummed, scratching his chin. “Doubt—but… I don’t want to force you and stuff… It’s just… well, it’s rare to see you wear that face.” He motioned at Flow, who patted his own face self-consciously.
Is he making a face?
“I’m making a face?” Flow asked, surprised.
Sharpness snorted, shaking his head. “No, not that. I meant—earlier, you came in looking like you’re dreading something and stuff, so I thought maybe something happened at Lifesteal? I mean, you did say it’s crazy out there.” Sharpness tilted his head pensively as Flow let out a small “oh” at that, looking down at his lap for a moment.
Then he fell back into his pillow and let out a loud sigh. “Sharpness, be real with me right now,” Flow said.
“Okay?” Sharpness replied, sounding a bit confused.
“Are we like—friends or… I don’t know…” Flow asked, tilting his head to look over at Sharpness, who blinked at him before nodding.
“We are—friends, I mean. Why?” Sharpness asked, brows furrowing as Flow’s lips slowly curled into a small smile.
“Really?” he asked, and Sharpness nodded, looking more confused than ever.
“Yes?” he said, and Flow sat up, feeling much more refreshed than before.
So he does have a friend—sure, it isn’t friends, but it’s a friend nonetheless. Why did he even doubt Sharpness anyways?
Flow wakes up to a darkened room, with light coming through an open door and a bit from the open window that was left open for cold air to enter, as per his request, since he tends to overheat a lot in his sleep from moving around so much. On the other side of the room lies Sharpness, fiddling with his communicator and playing Tetris as Flow moves to turn onto his side, yawning a bit.
That catches Sharp’s attention, and he lowers his communicator slightly. “You feeling better now?” he asks as Flow hums sleepily. His arms and legs hurt, probably from all the running he did a few days ago. For some reason, it had only taken effect now, probably because he hadn’t been abusing golden apples and healing potions left and right.
Abusing potions really does take a toll on his body more than normal because of how much he uses them daily. He can probably beat Sharpness in terms of how many potions he uses. He’s practically addicted to them at this point, so the rebound is much stronger whenever he goes a few days without them.
“Feeling better. Body hurts a bit,” Flow mumbles tiredly, yawning. He still feels tired, which isn’t surprising, but he did kinda wish it would go away faster than normal at the moment.
His words get Sharpness sitting up. “Need any help? Twirps got some cooling cream for painful muscles,” he says, and Flow blinks a bit at that.
“Sure,” he says, and in a flash, Sharpness is moving before Flow can even blink. For a moment, he watches the taller male exit the room before moving into a much more comfortable position on his chest, figuring he can just ask Sharpness to wipe some cream on his back and neck, as well as his legs, and have it done quickly without much problem.
He just didn’t think he’d fall asleep midway through waiting, because when he wakes up in another flash, there’s a lithe, callused hand running over his back, wiping something cold onto his skin that makes him let out a confused grumble.
“Sharp?” Flow slurs in confusion, tilting his head to see Sharpness beside him, wiping cream onto his back, his shirt pushed up a bit.
“Yo, you fell asleep, you chud,” Sharpness snorts as Flow just yawns sleepily at him.
“I’m so fucking tired, man.” He sighs tiredly before letting out a comfortable groan when Sharpness digs his thumb a bit into his shoulder to rub the cream in better, before pulling away and tugging his shirt back down.
He moves Flow onto his side and grabs his arm to wipe the cream onto his upper arm, rubbing it over his muscles to cool them as Flow lets out a relieved sigh.
“I can see that. You’ve been asleep after your bath. Your dinner’s cold in the kitchen,” Sharpness says.
“Did you wait for me to wake up?” Flow asks, blinking up at Sharpness, who nods.
“Oh… Thanks.” Flow sighs as Sharpness rolls him over again to access his other arm, rubbing more cream onto it. “No problem,” Sharpness says quietly as Flow watches him continue to work over him in silence.
“Did you ever once hate me?” Flow asks, and Sharpness practically freezes at that in surprise. “Huh?” Sharp asks as Flow averts his gaze for a moment before looking back at him. “Just a question. Be honest.” Flow frowns as Sharp blinks at him before lowering Flow’s arm down.
“No? I don’t think I hated you. I mean, you annoy me, but annoyance is different from hating, no?” Sharp tilts his head as Flow nods.
“Alright,” Flow murmurs. “Wish that everyone thought of that.” He adds the last words weakly as Sharpness gives him another strange look.
“What’s wrong?” he asks again, but Flow just shakes his head. “Just… stupid thoughts about stupid things.” He waves his hand at Sharp, who gives him a nonplussed look.
“That’s not true. You gotta tell me the truth. Why are you really here, man?” Sharp’s lips turn into a frown as Flow lets out a sharp sigh, looking away for a moment before looking back at Sharp.
“I think… I don’t have—friends. I mean, aside from you,” Flow says slowly as Sharpness falls quiet at that, wearing an unreadable look on his face. “What?” Sharpness says after a few beats of silence. “What makes you think that?”
Flow sits up, pushing himself up with his palms as he leans against the wall behind him, turning toward Sharpness as he shrugs. “I don’t know—I think more people hated me than wanted to be my friend… I mean, I don’t even think Tai will invite me next season here on Strength. I don’t think I have a chance at all.” Flow sighs, his shoulders dropping as Sharp’s eyes widen at that.
“What? Impossible! No way. Tai likes you, man. Why would he take you off the roster?”
“That’s not true.” Flow looks at him with a frown, glaring a bit as Sharpness just pouts. “It is! What do you mean you’re hated? That’s not true, bro. I don’t know where you got that from, but no one hates you.” He clenches his fist in frustration as Flow sighs, shaking his head.
“What makes you think that? I mean, you don’t know that, man.”
“But I do! Everyone wanted you to join. I mean, even before you did, Tai already planned it and had us vote on whether we wanted you in. Most of the players here are big fans of yours,” Sharpness says, looking confused.
“Huh?” Flow lets out, staring at him in confusion. Fan of him? That’s—that’s crazy. Why would they even be fans of him? He’s practically nobody in terms of rank. He can’t stand next to Coldified at all. Even if he does believe their skills are basically equal, he could definitely beat his ass.
“Yeah! I don’t know where you’re getting all this bullshit, but you got it all wrong. You’re being stupid again, bro.” Sharpness lets out a loud, dramatic sigh, crossing his arms over his chest as Flow just gapes at him.
“That’s not—I… I mean…” He stammers, looking around in confusion before looking back at Sharpness as if that would somehow make the answer clearer, when it definitely doesn’t.
“Clearly, you need more sleep—” Sharpness rubs his hands over his face, only to suddenly flinch.
Flow immediately turns toward him as Sharpness squeezes his eyes shut and yelps. “It got in my eyes!” he cries, standing up and almost tripping over himself. “Ouchie!” Sharpness yells. “It burns!” He promptly trips over the cape he’d left on the floor, falling with a loud thump. Flow flinches.
“What was that up there?!” Twirps yells loudly, his voice muffled from downstairs.
“Owie,” Sharpness whines from the floor. Flow shakes his head and sighs loudly, though he can’t help but feel relieved in the end.
He doesn’t think Sharpness is lying—but does it matter if he doesn’t have any friends beyond Sharpness? He’s not greedy, even if no one hates him at all, this is enough… This is nice. Flow thought to himself, his body slightly feeling better from the cooling cream Sharpness applied on him.
Maybe Sharpness does know how to take care of people, who knew he was so— Flow’s thoughts are briefly cut off when Sharpness stood up, his eyes shut close only to then slip on the cape again and fall onto the floor with a loud thump.
Nevermind that, forget Flow said anything. Sharpness sucks ass. “Oh my god.” Flow mutters to himself, palming his face in disbelief when Sharpness continues to whine on the floor.