Chapter Six #2
We listen as Kei’s voice slowly trails off, walking right past the closet towards the living room. We wait another moment before we both breathe a sigh of relief.
“Damn, that was a close one,” I murmur.
“Yeah. Thanks for getting in the closet with me.”
“It’s been like a decade since I was in the closet, Rodney,” I say with a chuckle.
“Oh! Well, I would hate to be the one to put you back in. I’ve been out as trans since I was old enough to talk,” he says and I can hear the grin in his voice.
“You’re trans? No way. So am I,” I say without thinking.
“Oh my gods. And they were both trans,” Rodney says, quoting a silly meme. We both laugh. Just then, the door pops open. We both start screaming our heads off.
“Would you two stop screaming, it’s just me,” Rin deadpans. “What are you two doing in here?”
“It’s not what it looks like,” I say right away.
“Yeah! We were making out!”
“What?”
“Did you find anything yet?”
“Just the gas tank,” Rin says as we stumble out of the closet together.
“Found you!” Kei says, running down the hallway.
“Scatter!” I shout, darting away from the group. I can hear someone get sliced behind me. I yelp as I dart down the opposite hallway, hoping it’ll lead me to a place where I can find the crowbar or pliers.
Inside one of the house’s bedrooms, I find the crowbar. Perfect! Time to head towards the basement! Before I can dart back out into the hallway, I can hear someone outside the door.
“Shit,” I whisper to myself, crawling under the bed and holding my breath.
Someone steps inside and I swear I can feel myself starting to sweat.
They walk around the bed, open up the closet, before walking back towards the door.
Just as I’m about to breathe a sigh of relief, the kill cut scene starts up, showing the killer grabbing my legs and pulling me out from under the bed.
“Jesus Christ,” I yelp out, watching as my character dies and a moment later, the ‘Killer Wins’ screen pops up. We all get teleported back to the warehouse.
“Guys,” Rodney is saying with a whine. “I don’t know if this game is good for my heart! I didn’t think there would be so many jumpscares!”
“That was so much fun,” Kei says and I can hear the smile in his voice. He’s having a great time being the killer. “Pay up! A deal’s a deal!”
I groan as I pull up a second tab on my second monitor. I search for Kei’s stream, sending five gifted subs over.
“Thank you for the subs, Snow!”
“We weren’t even close to escaping,” Rodney says.
“Yeah, because you two were busy making out!”
“That’s what you guys were doing all crowded around the closet?” Kei asks, “I thought you were exchanging items or strategizing.”
“We were having a moment. Thank you very much,” Rodney says seriously. “And you guys ruined it!”
Rin bounces up and down. “Okay. Hear me out. You could try actually being good at the video game?”
“I swear to the gods,” Rodney starts to say but his voice cuts off as we jump into another match.
The rest of the night passes like that. After the first match, the survivors get a better grip on the game and we manage to escape a few times. Rin wins as killer and Rodney wins as killer twice. For some reason, the game never gives me the option of being the killer.
“That’s so unfair,” Rin says softly. “I feel kinda bad taking those subs since you didn’t even get a chance.”
I just shrug. I don’t really mind one way or another because everyone had fun and chat had a fantastic time. I’ve made up the loss of subs with new subs coming and checking me out from the others’ chats and hopefully, my chat is doing the same for them.
“We’ll play something else next time and I’ll win those subs back.”
“Oh,” Rodney says softly. “I like it when you’re confident. That’s sexy as hell.”
“For fuck’s sake,” Kei says and a moment later, I can hear Rodney groaning.
“Shit. Sorry. Unmuted again.”
I shake my head, cursing the way my cheeks are heating at the silly compliment. They’re ridiculous but they make my stomach flip and warm every time. I still have no idea if he actually means what he says, but I can’t deny that I’m enjoying the attention.
“Tonight was really fun,” Rin says, hopping up and down in front of me. “I would be down to play together again in the future. Sometime, I should try to get a huge ass lobby going. We could do double killers if I can find enough people to play.”
“I’d be down,” I say right away. “Thursdays are my variety day so anytime you wanna try a lobby of something, let me know.”
“Bye, you guys,” Kei says before disconnecting from the game. I run my person over to a corner before turning back to chat.
“Thanks everyone for stopping by. Let me read these last few subs before I go,” I say, looking at my notifications.
“Thank you ToriToriTori, I’m in your walls, Scholarships for everyone, Rodney’s toes.
” I snort, looking into my camera. “Why? Just why? Why the dismembered body parts? I can’t with y’all sometimes.
Also you’re not in my walls. Shut the fuck up before I have nightmares. ”
I finish reading the notifications before signing off and sending my raid over to Kei since he’s switched over to playing SkyDive by himself. I send a message in chat, saying I had fun tonight and that I hope he can get his final achievement.
When that’s all said and done, I turn back to my character in the game. Rodney is still here and I walk over to him, crouching in front of his character, grinning to myself. He’s probably saying goodbye to his chat as well.
“Holy shit,” he says all of a sudden, like he’s finally looked at the screen and noticed me. I can’t help but chuckle. “I thought everyone else already left! Don’t scare a guy like that, Snow!”
“Are you done talking to chat?”
Rodney hums. “Yeah, just sent them over to Suga.”
“Me too,” I say. “So you can call me Gayle again.”
“Okay, Gayle,” Rodney says softly and my stomach warms at the shift in his tone. Now that it’s just the two of us, we can just talk without worrying about chat or running from a killer. Now this suddenly feels way more intimate and special.
“I had a lot of fun today,” I tell him, making my character sit on the ground. Rodney matches me, sitting across from me. Our characters look nothing like ourselves but this still feels nice, just sitting across from each other and chatting softly.
“Can I tell you a secret?”
My stomach swoops. “Of course.”
“I was kinda nervous about playing together tonight.”
I find myself grinning so wide that my cheeks hurt. “Really?” I ask, my voice lifting up into a teasing tone. “I was nervous too. My kid had to give me a little pep talk. How embarrassing is that?”
Rodney hums softly. “That’s kind of adorable, not gonna lie.”
“You think I’m adorable?”
“Yeah, I do. Is that okay? I don’t wanna like make you uncomfortable or anything like that.”
“You’re not. Making me uncomfortable, that is.” I bite on my bottom lip for a moment before adding. “I kinda don’t know when you’re just teasing or when you’re being serious. Like all the flirting and thirsting? I kinda assume that’s all just for show and to get your chat all riled up.”
“No,” Rodney says right away, his voice getting serious. I sit back in my chair, waiting for him to continue. “Gods, this is so embarrassing but everything I’ve said when it comes to you has been straight from my heart, not a single filter in sight.”
“Oh,” I breathe out. I pick up the duck stressball that Calloway gifted me a few years ago, squeezing it so the little eyeballs pop out. “That’s umm, that’s really good to know. I was kinda worried all these feelings I’ve been having were one-sided.”
I hear a squeak and then a loud bang before there’s silence. There’s a long moment where Rodney doesn’t say anything. I’m starting to get worried before I hear, “shit. Sorry. I got so excited that my headphones fell off my head and then muted themselves. I’m here!”
I snort with amusement, that warmth in my chest bursting forth until all my limbs feel tingly.
“The feelings are not one-sided,” Rodney says, his voice having a bit more composure.
“Good. That’s really good,” I say, not really knowing what else to say. I squeeze my little ducky again. “Hey, Rodney?”
“Yes, Gayle?”
“Dad!”
“Shit,” I say, startled as Calloway walks into my room.
“I don’t feel like cooking tonight. Can I order a pizza?”
“Yeah, that’s fine,” I say, looking up at my kid.
“Are you still in a call?”
My cheeks heat up. “Umm, maybe.”
Calloway gives me a knowing look. “Right. What do you want?”
“Pineapple and pepperoni please! And can you ask if they have that sugar cookie pizza still? I want something sweet.”
“I’m on it!”
“Thank you! Love you!”
“Love you too. I’ll let you know when it’s here.”
I look back at the screen, finding Rodney over by one of the random activities here in the warehouse you can do while you’re waiting for the next match to start. He’s setting up bowling pins.
“Sorry about that,” I say, walking back over to him.
“It’s fine! That was Calloway, right?”
“Yeah. He’s ordering us some pizza.”
“I heard,” he says, his voice sounding disgusted. “Pineapple on your pizza? Really, Gayle. I’m gonna have to think about these feelings now that I’ve learned that about you.”
“Have you even tried it?”
“No, but that’s not the point!”
We spend the next twenty minutes talking about what are the ideal toppings for a pizza. Calloway brings my pizza to me along with a plate. I thank him and continue to talk to Rodney as I eat, making sure he knows just how delicious the pineapple is.
“Mmm! It’s so good, Rodney. I know how much you want a bite.”
Rodney makes a strangled noise. “You’ve gotta stop moaning like that,” he says softly. “Unless you’re actively trying to give me a boner. In that case, keep going. You’re doing a great job.”
“Oh my gods,” I say, almost choking on my bite. I sputter and cough, taking a drink of water to get it all down. “You can’t just say stuff like that, Rodney! You’re gonna kill me!”
“What? Like you didn’t know that you moaning over your pizza was sexy? I think you knew exactly what you were doing!”
“The pizza is just that good, Rodney!”
He snorts. “Sure. Whatever you say, Gayle.”
I can feel my cheeks heating but there’s a small smile on my face. Before I know it, hours have gone by.
“Shit,” I whisper, “I didn’t realize it had gotten so late. What the hell?”
“Damn! I didn’t notice either! Do you have something in the morning.”
“No, it’s fine,” I say, letting out a yawn. Now that I know what time it is, I’m suddenly ready to drop into bed. “Hey, Rodney. Are you busy this weekend?”
Rodney hums. “I don’t think so. You wanna play something?”
I bite my bottom lip so hard it might bleed.
My stomach is a mess of nerves. I let out a shaky breath.
“I was just wondering if you wanted to come hang out? Maybe? We could watch a movie or play some board games or even go out to dinner. Or something. In person? Calloway will be at his other dad’s house so we’ll have the place to ourselves. ”
I wince as I ramble, suddenly feeling very, very nervous. Thankfully, Rodney doesn’t make me wait long.
“I’d like that,” he says softly. “I’d like that a lot. Text me your address and I’ll bring boba. We can decide what we feel like doing when I get there?”
“That would be great.”
“Great,” Rodney says and I can hear his grin. “It’s a date.”
“Yeah,” I say softly. “It’s a date.”