Work Text:
The rattling sound of a pebble thrown against the window made 007n7 glanced, his eyebrows raised as he glanced back to the group—most of them didn't notice that, only Guest but he just shrugged it away a few seconds after they locked eye contact. The night was already late after the latest, tiring round with 𝘩𝘪𝘮, a few of them were badly hurt but at least no one died ... this time.
The small noise happened again, another pebble was thrown, he glared; squinting his eyes while he started to frown.
"You okay there?"
007n7 blinked in surprise, he shifted his stare from the window to the one who just spoke to him—Elliot, the pizza man tilted his head in a mix of curiosity but also nonchalance at the same time, as if asking the question was only for a mere politeness. Elliot disliked him, he knew that, he understood that as well.
"I'm fine," 007n7 replied with a loop sided smile, he rubbed his sore shoulder while trying to stay away from Elliot's stare. "Just tired, you know, long round."
"I see."
He sighed in relief once Elliot turned away and walked to Chance to talk. His eyes leered at the window again, only strong wind moving the bushes and the leaves of the tree in the cold night. However, the glowing star in the darkness was enough. 007n7 looked around the room again, Noob and Shedletsky were talking with Taph listening, Dusekkar and Two-time were reading books together, Elliot was still speaking to Chance, Guest and Builderman had joined them, nobody seemed to notice.
He slipped away from the room quietly, making sure no one noticed that the 'traitor' had left the building. The breeze of the night wind immediately greeted his face once he opened the door, he closed it quietly and began to wander further from the haven. The sound of cricket was following, the howl of an owl, the sound the leaves made when was brushed by the wind, then footsteps—heavy footsteps stalking him from the side.
The moment he arrived at some wreckage, the air in front of him formed a purple-ish silhouette.
"𝙃𝙚𝙮." His wide smile stretched further, 007n7 only furrowed his forehead.
"I don't appreciate a hallucination, Noli."
The silhouette vanished, a hand tapped his shoulder and he flinched, backed away a few steps with a deeper frown finding the supposed-to-be-the-killer-this-round standing not so far from him.
Noli circled him, it made him feel like he needed to curl up into himself from him. "𝙔𝙤𝙪 𝙛𝙡𝙞𝙣𝙘𝙝 𝙗𝙚𝙘𝙖𝙪𝙨𝙚 𝙤𝙛 𝙢𝙚." The distorted voice of the man resulting a resignated sigh from 007n7. "𝙏𝙚𝙡𝙡 𝙢𝙚, 𝙎𝙚𝙫, 𝙖𝙧𝙚 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙧𝙚𝙖𝙡𝙡𝙮 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙖𝙛𝙧𝙖𝙞𝙙 𝙤𝙛 𝙢𝙚?"
"I think it's quite expected when you were chasing me around," he replied, trying to keep himself composed even when the wide smile turned upside down. "You're not supposed to be here."
"𝙒𝙝𝙮 𝙣𝙤𝙩?"
"The others could spot you, and your team would notice too."
Noli scoffed, stepping closer to him. "𝙄'𝙫𝙚 𝙢𝙖𝙙𝙚 𝙨𝙪𝙧𝙚 𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙮 𝙬𝙤𝙪𝙡𝙙𝙣'𝙩. 𝘿𝙤 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙠𝙣𝙤𝙬 𝙝𝙤𝙬 𝙝𝙖𝙧𝙙 𝙞𝙩 𝙞𝙨 𝙩𝙤 𝙜𝙚𝙩 𝙮𝙤𝙪𝙧 𝙧𝙞𝙙𝙞𝙘𝙪𝙡𝙤𝙪𝙨 𝙨𝙥𝙖𝙬𝙣 𝙤𝙛 𝙝𝙚𝙡𝙡 𝙤𝙛𝙛 𝙤𝙛 𝙢𝙮 𝙗𝙪𝙨𝙞𝙣𝙚𝙨𝙨 𝙬𝙝𝙚𝙣 𝙄 𝙬𝙖𝙨 𝙖𝙗𝙤𝙪𝙩 𝙩𝙤 𝙜𝙤?"
The edge of 007n7's lips lifted, as his eyes glanced away he quietly spoke. "Should've brought him as well, I miss him."
He yelped when his body was pushed against the standing ruined wall, his breath caught in his throat the moment the rotted hands clutched his collar tightly, Noli's face was a few inches away. "𝙄 𝙢𝙞𝙨𝙨 𝙮𝙤𝙪, 𝙎𝙚𝙫," Noli murmured. "𝙄 𝙧𝙚𝙖𝙡𝙡𝙮 𝙙𝙤."
007n7 bit the inside of his cheeks. "You shouldn't."
"𝙄 𝙠𝙣𝙤𝙬 𝙄 𝙨𝙝𝙤𝙪𝙡𝙙𝙣'𝙩," Noli's hands crept to the sides of his face, cradling it almost ironically gentle before he tilted his head, "𝙗𝙪𝙩 𝙄 𝙘𝙖𝙣'𝙩 𝙨𝙩𝙤𝙥. 𝙄 𝙘𝙖𝙣'𝙩 𝙡𝙚𝙩 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙜𝙤, 𝙖𝙛𝙩𝙚𝙧 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙡𝙚𝙛𝙩 𝙢𝙚, 𝙧𝙚𝙥𝙡𝙖𝙘𝙚𝙙 𝙢𝙚 𝙬𝙞𝙩𝙝 𝙨𝙤𝙢𝙚 𝙠𝙞𝙣𝙙—𝙎𝙖𝙩𝙖𝙣'𝙨 𝙗𝙡𝙤𝙤𝙙—"
"Noli I never meant—"
"𝙔𝙤𝙪 𝙙𝙞𝙙!" Noli flunked 007n7's face tighter, his voice went deeper and glitched. "𝙔𝙤𝙪 𝙙𝙞𝙙, 𝙎𝙚𝙫, 𝙮𝙚𝙩," he eased the grip; caressing 007n7's face with unsettling softness, "𝙮𝙚𝙩 𝙄 𝙘𝙖𝙣'𝙩 𝙡𝙚𝙩 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙜𝙤. 𝙄 𝙝𝙖𝙙 𝙮𝙤𝙪, 𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙣 𝙄 𝙡𝙤𝙨𝙩 𝙮𝙤𝙪. 𝙊𝙝 𝙄'𝙫𝙚 𝙖𝙡𝙬𝙖𝙮𝙨 𝙙𝙧𝙚𝙖𝙢𝙚𝙙 𝙩𝙤 𝙢𝙚𝙚𝙩 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙖𝙜𝙖𝙞𝙣, 𝙎𝙚𝙫," he drawled with a longing in his voice, 007n7 felt his whole body tensed more but Noli descended his hands, rubbing them with quite consoling on 007n7's shoulders.
It worked, it had always worked, Noli always did it whenever his anxiety was rocketing, and even after all this time they've fought as nemesis in the battleground, it still worked. 007n7 sighed heavily, he felt his body was relaxing eventually, therefore Noli was back cradling his face with his hands.
"You should go now."
"𝙄 𝙢𝙞𝙨𝙨 𝙮𝙤𝙪."
"The others—"
"𝙄𝙩'𝙨 𝙣𝙤𝙩 𝙖𝙗𝙤𝙪𝙩 𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙢. 𝙉𝙤𝙩 𝙣𝙤𝙬." Noli caressed the bone of his cheeks with his thumbs. "𝙄𝙩'𝙨 𝙖𝙗𝙤𝙪𝙩 𝙢𝙚 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙮𝙤𝙪."
007n7 clipped his lips tightly, gradually he looked up to Noli with inexplicable stare in his eyes. "I don't deserve you," he murmured, raising his trembling fingers to craddle the side of Noli's face. "I've wronged you a 𝘭𝘰𝘵, Noli," Noli sighed as he leaned his face deeper to 007n7's palm, "you should hate me for that. You end up here because of my egoistic self—how could I take advantage of this fondness of yours when I only brought you misery?"
"𝙔𝙤𝙪 𝙖𝙧𝙚 𝙢𝙮 𝙢𝙞𝙨𝙚𝙧𝙮, 𝙢𝙮 𝙙𝙚𝙖𝙧 𝙨𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙣," Noli whispered, "𝙗𝙪𝙩 𝙄 𝙘𝙖𝙣'𝙩 𝙝𝙚𝙡𝙥 𝙞𝙩—𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙬𝙚𝙧𝙚 𝙢𝙮 𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙧𝙮𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙣𝙜."
"Noli ..."
"𝙏𝙚𝙡𝙡 𝙢𝙚 𝙝𝙤𝙬 𝙩𝙤 𝙝𝙖𝙩𝙚 𝙮𝙤𝙪, 𝙎𝙚𝙫." 007n7's tensed a bit when Noli erased what was left of their distance, his hands wrapped around his body into an embrace, holding him as if he could break him anytime if he was being too careless. Noli hid his face in 007n7's neck, his eyes fluttered to close as if he had been waiting to feel the shared warmth between them. "𝙏𝙚𝙡𝙡 𝙢𝙚 𝙝𝙤𝙬 𝙩𝙤 𝙝𝙖𝙩𝙚 𝙮𝙤𝙪," Noli whispered, "𝙝𝙤𝙬 𝙩𝙤 𝙝𝙖𝙩𝙚 𝙨𝙤𝙢𝙚𝙤𝙣𝙚 𝙬𝙝𝙤 𝙨𝙚𝙣𝙩 𝙢𝙚 𝙩𝙤 𝙢𝙮 𝙨𝙤𝙧𝙧𝙤𝙬𝙨 𝙮𝙚𝙩 𝙢𝙖𝙙𝙚 𝙢𝙚 𝙛𝙚𝙚𝙡 𝙖𝙡𝙞𝙫𝙚 𝙞𝙣 𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙧𝙮 𝙝𝙞𝙨𝙩𝙤𝙧𝙮 𝙬𝙚'𝙫𝙚 𝙗𝙚𝙚𝙣 𝙩𝙝𝙧𝙤𝙪𝙜𝙝 𝙩𝙤𝙜𝙚𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙧. 𝙃𝙤𝙬 𝙩𝙤 𝙝𝙖𝙩𝙚 𝙨𝙤𝙢𝙚𝙤𝙣𝙚 𝙬𝙝𝙤 𝙨𝙩𝙞𝙡𝙡 𝙢𝙖𝙠𝙚𝙨 𝙢𝙚 𝙧𝙚𝙢𝙞𝙣𝙞𝙨𝙘𝙚 𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙧𝙮 𝙨𝙚𝙘𝙤𝙣𝙙 𝙬𝙚'𝙫𝙚 𝙨𝙥𝙚𝙣𝙩 𝙩𝙤𝙜𝙚𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙧 𝙞𝙣 𝙢𝙮 𝙬𝙖𝙠𝙚 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙨𝙡𝙚𝙚𝙥. 𝙃𝙤𝙬 𝙩𝙤 𝙝𝙖𝙩𝙚 𝙨𝙤𝙢𝙚𝙤𝙣𝙚 𝙬𝙝𝙤𝙨𝙚 𝙗𝙧𝙚𝙖𝙩𝙝, 𝙡𝙞𝙥𝙨, 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙨𝙤𝙪𝙡 𝙖𝙧𝙚 𝙚𝙢𝙗𝙚𝙙𝙙𝙚𝙙 𝙨𝙤 𝙙𝙚𝙚𝙥𝙡𝙮 𝙞𝙣𝙨𝙞𝙙𝙚 𝙤𝙛 𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙨 𝙘𝙤𝙧𝙧𝙪𝙥𝙩𝙚𝙙 𝙨𝙥𝙞𝙧𝙞𝙩 𝙤𝙛 𝙢𝙞𝙣𝙚."
007n7 didn't say anything, 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥𝘯'𝘵. Noli tightened his embrace as if he never wanted to let him go, and 007n7 still felt he didn't deserve this. He had left him, abandoned him, hurt him, turned him into this—he was a traitor, a failed father, a hated teammate, sincerity wasn't meant for him; not from Noli, not from his son.
He exhaled, a tired smile etched on his face as he finally returned the embrace, sinking his face on Noli's shoulders. "I really am a betrayer," he whispered, as a result Noli was rolling his eyes and snorting, "aren't I?"
Noli brought their face closer to press their lips together, only for a few moments. "𝙔𝙤𝙪 𝙖𝙧𝙚," he murmured, "𝙢𝙮 𝙡𝙞𝙩𝙩𝙡𝙚 𝙩𝙧𝙖𝙞𝙩𝙤𝙧."