Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

This situation wasn’t ideal.

Not at all.

007n7 never meant for this to happen. It was never meant to come to light, not here, not now, but unfortunately… he really just couldn’t avoid it—could he?

They weren’t on him when he first arrived here, there wasn’t a single trace of them. It hadn’t been until after his poor son started slowly fusing with the gui that they suddenly appeared. Emerging out of his skull and spine respectively with a wet crackle of bone and blood. The pain was unbearable, the migraine had lasted for days, but the last thing 007n7 needed at the end of an already agonizing day was another reminder of what he was.

They were signs of corruption gained from the gui—he knew that— but these types of side effects were only present on the user if there were signs of significant overuse, it's how he got them when he was younger in the first place. but he hadn’t even been using the gui that much since he got here, he barely used it unless he absolutely needed to. How in the world is he already exhibiting signs of overuse?! Nevertheless, the crimson red horns sticking out of his head and the long red tail protruding from his spine were all things that would surely make him look even more menacing to the other survivors.

They were all weary of him when he first arrived, even without any of the more menacing features. With a past like his It made sense for them to fear him, he knew that, Acceptance doesn’t always come with forgiveness. It didn’t make it hurt any less however. The cold looks and snide remarks were certainly never pleasant, especially when it came from Elliot or the admins.With his appearance now it would only make their scrutiny even worse, wouldn’t it? God, they would kill him wouldn’t they? For looking like this… and if he didn’t die they’d probably just torture him or beat him so he wouldn’t dare to hurt any of them. Or would they scrutinize him even more? Would they start fearing him now just because he started sharing a resemblance to his poor son? Lock him up and isolate him until everyone eventually forgets that he even existed, making him even more of a recluse than he already was. They’d probably insult him and tell him he should disappear, taking advantage of his already deteriorating mental health.

He had started panicking at that point, desperately trying to figure out different ways he could conceal his horns; he had even tried to file them off at one point. Unfortunately that was how he found out that apparently whatever was keeping them all here had decided to make his horns hyper-sensitive. Even a little flick felt sent a shiver down his spine. He nearly had a mental breakdown pacing around his room until he remembered something important…

…the gui!

He’d used it in the past to conceal his horns and tail before! He mostly only used it when he went out and didn’t want people to recognize him, it usually lasted for a while but he had only programmed it to be temporary. The code for it was rather faulty considering the fact that he made it in his college days when he was far lazier but it was the best solution he had for right now.

Although The gui was limited in what it could do here, he had luckily found the command after a bit of searching and immediately executed it. After a few seconds he felt his Horns and tail slowly receding back into his skull and spine respectively. The process felt icky and uncomfortable but it was better than going through the Agony of sawing his horns off or decapitating his tail from his body. He could deal with feeling his bones rearrange themselves but cutting off those parts would be painful and needlessly violent, he’s already felt enough pain here as it is. But he could deal with this…

It was just his horns and tail that came with him here, he had nothing else he had to conceal physically. How hard would it be with the gui? 

Turns out…. Hiding all of this was going to be a lot worse than he expected.

The entity running this place sure loved to torture him considering how apparently they weren’t finished fucking around with his body yet. First it takes his poor son and emotionally traumatizes the boy, then it forces his horns back onto his body, and now this. It had been a few weeks since he managed to get rid of the horns and tail for a bit but suddenly there was a new problem that he had regrettably discovered after a particularly rough round with his son. A problem he didn’t even think was possible for him to even have until now.

He remembered it now.

The ex hacker had been seated on the porch outside the main cabin, curled into himself with his knees to his chest. Tears silently poured down the man’s cheeks, muted sobs accompanying them. The round went as poorly as you can imagine and its lingering presence left a bad taste in his mouth. He missed his son so much, the grief would never leave him. No matter how many times he saw his son ruthlessly attacking people. All he would ever end up seeing was that small, chubby red baby that ended up on his doorstep in the middle of the night. The one who would leave scattered crayons and toy dinosaurs on his desk. That little boy who would always hug his leg and call him his ‘papa’, the boy who he had taken under his wing and vowed to love no matter what.. Only to end up fitting him for a coffin.

Everyone glared at him when he respawned back in the cabin, the air thick with cynicism and hostility. Elliot had given him a verbal beating right in front of everyone and he unceremoniously let himself out of the room after that. He really just had to resist the urge to do something bad after that, to hurt himself. If he just disassociated and stared into the void for over an hour then everything would be okay and he surely wouldn’t do something he’d regret later… oh who was he kidding, he had proof on both of his arms at this point that he’s already done a few too many things he’s regretted here, what’s one more?

By that point in his thought process he had already started clawing at his hair, pulling some of the dark brown strands out, his chest heaving and his glasses fogging up from the tears. That was, until he heard someone open the cabin's front door, hearing a familiar voice call out to him.

“ Seven? Are you okay? I’ve been looking around for you..”

Guest 1337 One of the only people here who actually seemed to like and seek him out. The only person who didn’t seem to care that he was an ex-exploiter.

The only one who cared about him. The veteran took a few steps toward the man and sat next to him on the porch with a grunt, plopping himself down in the spot next to him. 007n7s hands are still loosely gripping clumps of his hair as the other man gave him a concerned look. The soldier gently prying the man’s hands from his head with a knowing look, almost as if he’s done this before with someone else. 007n7 still hasn’t answered his question. He stammered for a bit , trying to find an appropriate response.

“ I-i… I don’t know, really… I’m just a bit.. overwhelmed I guess…”

Guest tilted his head, giving him a curious look. The soldier was still holding both of his hands in a soft grip, gently squeezing them once to reassure him. It was a habit of guests he supposed.

“ mh, figured. I heard about what happened in the round, and in the main cabin. I already talked to Elliot about his outburst, don’t worry. But, If I were in your shoes I imagine that I’d also be pretty overwhelmed, I'm sorry you had to deal with that.“

“Guest.. don’t..” 007n7 sighed, “ don’t apologize, it’s not your fault you weren’t there to calm Elliot down, and you didn’t have to talk to him for my sake. I’m sure he probably needed to get all of his emotions out anyway, I probably deserved all of it too hah… “ his voice cracked, “ I really am just… that pathetic and… everyone else here would probably just be better off without me messing everything up and never doing anything right and- and-” tears started flowing down his face again as he rambled, his voice cracking even further.

“seven,” A voice interrupted his as he felt guest squeeze his hands again. 007n7 looked up.

Guest gazed at him intensely, his eyes radiating with worry, brows furrowed in concern.

“ sev, look at me…whatever Elliot said to you earlier, none of it is true, and none of it matters right now. Most of the things he said about you earlier were things he remembers about you from the past, you aren’t like that anymore. You’re trying to be better now and that’s what matters, Elliot may not see that but I do. And you’re doing a damn good job—at that”

007n7 looked at guest with wide eyes, tears threatening to spill even more from his eyelids. Guest continued to hold both his hands firmly, rubbing gentle circles in them. 007n7 sniffled, “ do you think..? That I could…um”

he stammered for a bit, trying to find the right words. “Do you think you could hug me? please…”

007n7 was averting his eyes from the soldier, fully expecting him to flat out refuse or push him away. Instead he immediately felt two strong arms close around him, holding him in a gentle embrace. It took a couple seconds for 007n7 to process but eventually he reciprocated the hug and wrapped both of his arms around the soldier’s back, desperately pressing his face into the crook of his neck. Soft hics and sobs came from the retired hacker as the older man rubbed his shoulders tenderly, 007n7 just pressed his cheek further into the man’s neck.

“ You're gonna be alright seven, I’ll make sure of it, It’s going to be okay.” Guest murmured, “Just breathe, try to calm down alright?”

It took a while, but after a few moments 007n7 was able to calm his heavy breathing down into sporadic hiccups. Regrettably, he was still crying, but at least it wasn’t from panic or shame anymore. Guest’s embrace was warm, sweet and comforting, like hot cocoa and fluffy marshmallows after a harsh unforgivingly cold winter morning. Toasty, but not scalding hot. Warmth sweet enough to lull him to sleep, sweet enough to make him forget about the bitter cold swarming around him. Just good intentions and nothing else. He remembered those cold snowy mornings with Coolkid, when times were much better, Back when he wasn’t fighting for his life every single day. He hadn’t even realized that he’d closed his eyes until he felt guest 1337 shift a bit under him, 007n7 not realizing that he was practically snuggling into the man.

And that’s when he felt it happen… It started off as just a low pitched groan in his own throat, barely audible, until it shifted into something more. He felt it before he could even stop it. A deep rumble radiating in his throat and chest, almost like a grumble. Was he…purring?!

A shot of panic instantly ran through the ex hacker. Hopefully before guest 1337 could notice the purring—007n7 quickly shoved himself away from the other man and slapped a hand over his own mouth. Retching and wheezing to try and stop the low rumbles that were threatening to escape his throat. Why… why why why, WHY did this have to happen now?! Just when he finally started to calm down and think things might just be okay. He's faced with yet another problem and now he’s even more of a freak than he was before. Dear God, nothing he can do will ever make this okay! He’s done for if he thinks he can actually hide something like this! This is only going to make him even worse- this-

“Seven!”

He was pulled from his manic thoughts by a booming voice, not even realizing that guest 1337 had been speaking to him this entire time. 007n7 now felt the man’s hands gripping his shoulders, his grip not tight but firm, like he was trying to ground him. It was comforting but feeling comfort would only trigger the purring even more.

“Seven, hey, hey, calm down. Look at me, what’s wrong? Are you hurt?-”

007n7 shakily flinched away from the soldier’s grip on him, not wanting to reveal himself more than he already has.

He felt so guilty when he saw how confused the man looked, he couldn’t blame him, he didn’t even really know what was happening, either..

Guest 1337 let him pull away but had that concerned look still etched on his face. “Hey, what’s—?”

“I-I I’m sorry b-but… I-i need to go-”

007n7 breathed, hastily standing up already.

“Wait, Seven!-”

He bolted away from the main cabin's porch, seeking to go somewhere that was anywhere but there, leaving guest alone on the porch by himself.

007n7 went back to his cabin after that revelation and subsequently stayed there until the end of the day, and also until the next set of rounds started. That led him to where he was now, sitting on his bed isolated in his cabin alone, having pushed away the only person who actually seemed to care.

It had been roughly a month since then and Guest didn’t seem to seek him out after that little altercation, he would often try to get his attention sometimes, little attempts made here and there. The soldiers gaze boring into the back of his head when he thought he wasn’t looking. When 007n7 would come out of his cabin for once to get his food from the kitchen, guest 1337 would try and approach him about what happened, when in rounds the soldier would try to make small talk whenever they encountered each other. 007n7 would shoot down all of his attempts, trying his darnedest to avoid the other man, choosing the cold and distant approach every time.

It wasn’t anything personal, he just couldn’t risk guest 1337 finding out the truth. Every time the veteran interacted with him he constantly had to fight the inconvenient rumbles that were coming from his throat. 007n7 doesn’t want guest to be frightened or disgusted by him and if life has taught him anything it’s that the people who are most likely to backstab you are always those who you least expect.
Those who trust you the most and are the most caring towards you will always end up hating you in the end. He convinced himself that Guest 1337 surely wouldn’t be any different, 007n7 could already picture the sneer on his face once he revealed what he was to him… If It had happened with the people that he had trusted before, who’s to say that it wouldn’t happen again.

Guest 1337 was one of the few people that actually tolerated him here, he even seemed to like his presence. They’d always share funny stories or bad dad jokes between rounds, common interests and even personal experiences now and then. The exploiter knew things about the veteran that were not common knowledge to the other survivors, and the veteran knew things about the hacker in the same way. One particular detail about the soldier that 007n7 had always paid close attention to was that Guest 1337 snorted and threw his head back when he cackled, whenever 007n7 would occasionally make a dumb joke or tell an outlandish story that got the man’s attention. His laugh was loud and genuine, the kind of intense laughter you would expect to hear from someone who’s only laughed once in their life.

When guest 1337 laughed around the other survivors it was usually only Ernest chuckles at best. The only few times guest would ever laugh like that openly around the other survivors was when he was drunk. The soldier wasn’t even all that cold or stern when out of rounds, ironically he was actually a little goofy, Only really putting on his signature serious face when in rounds.

The veteran was always pretty jovial but 1337 had always tried maintaining a sense of composure when around the other survivors. Said it made him look a bit more stoic and relaxed, he apparently thought he was a lot less likely to be made fun of that way, made him feel more reliable to others. A habit from the military that he couldn’t really unlearn. 007n7 understood, but he always loved hearing guest laugh like that every once in a while, especially when he did it in front of the others.

They had been closer than most, always checking up on each other between rounds. Guest was never bothered by 007n7 when he started opening up more to the soldier, 007n7 gradually showing the side of him that wasn’t a nervous wreck, the type of jokester behavior he used to have with noli except way less unhealthy and irritating. 007n7 found that he could even tease the guy and he wouldn’t get mad, the soldier didn’t seem to be irritated or annoyed by him in the slightest.

And that would’ve made whatever bad reaction he might have to 007n7's secret even worse. The only actual friend he had here, disgusted by the terrible reminder of his past that was forever torched on his body.

It was at that moment that he suddenly snapped out of his thoughts as he felt a small pang of pain bloom in the center of his skull. It was mild at first but the sensation seemed to get worse as the seconds passed. 007n7s breaths grew ragged as sweat dripped from his face, his body sinking deeper and deeper into the mattress of his bed. Then suddenly, oh so suddenly, a spurt of blood instantly sprayed out of his nose. His hand quickly covered his nostrils but the blood was already flowing down his lips. His head was pounding as the pain in his skull started getting worse and more heavier.

It was so bad that he doubled over in pain, completely falling off the bed and onto his hands and knees on the floor. The pain in his skull was agonizing, he could feel it getting worse by the minute. It felt like a hot iron needle getting inserted into both sides of his brain slowly and agonizingly. 007n7 curled into himself, desperately hoping that the searing hot pain would stop soon. Unfortunately, that didn’t happen. The pain paused for a moment before—

*SPLAT!*

His entire body flinched upwards as his horns emerged from his skull once more in a wet squelch of bone and blood, his tail whipping out from his spine in a similar manner. 007n7s entire body went numb from the pain as he keeled over, his body hitting the wooden floor with a heavy thud. The ex-hacker couldn’t move, he could barely breathe, his vision was blurred.

Fuck. Fuck, it hurt so much. How were they back so fast- he got rid of them! Or maybe that’s it, what would have happened when he left the code that concealed his horns and tail running for an extended period of time. He’d never expected to leave it running this long in the past so he never got to see any of the problems he currently had to deal with.

In the past he was able to get rid of them before, when he stopped using the gui for good. But it’s not like that was even an option In this place. Without his gui he was as good as useless. That’s why the program not working like this was such a massive inconvenience.

If it stopped working sporadically like this then it would be a problem, he couldn’t overuse it like the gui. It would cause the other survivors to potentially see him at his worst, and that couldn’t happen under any circumstances. 007n7 would probably have to plan some sort of routine to get around this inconvenience, lock himself up in his cabin even more so no one saw him when he was at his most vulnerable.
He sat up with a pained groan, sitting there for a while to try and out Wait the dizziness in his head.

God, He’s definitely gonna have to clean himself up in the bathroom after this…

This was getting worse, fast.

It had already been hard enough to hide the purrs and hisses that threatened to escape his throat, weeks of intense pain and malaise from putting excessive strain on his throat to force down the rumbling. 007n7’s throat had started to feel like he was choking on a cheese grater, sometimes it would even get so extreme that he’d start Dry heaving. All he had to do at first was just avoid guest 1337 as much as possible, no big deal, it hurt and he missed spending time with him but if he wanted to keep the soldier from finding out about this he couldn’t risk it. But all hell started to break loose when he started having more frequent episodes.

How long the code would keep his horns and tail concealed before his body crapped out on itself from overuse varied every time he executed the program. A month, a day, 4 hours at the very least. For that reason there were times where 007n7 had to forcefully shut the program down for at least a day or two so it wouldn’t cause him to have another episode where his body broke down and blood started squirting out of his nose again. In that same time frame, 007n7 never came out of his cabin once when the program wasn’t running; not even to eat, only ever turning it back on when the rounds finally would start.

He hated not having the program on, hated the feeling of how sensitive his horns were, hated the lack of control. Every time he turned off the program the urge to turn it back on and be normal again was overwhelming. When it was off It was like he was some sort of wild animal, some kind of primal beast. Just Disgusting … But 007n7 knew through rigorous trial and error that if he continued to overuse it and turn it off-and-on every few seconds it would only make the episodes more inevitable. The gui, rounds and added strain on his throat were already taking a noticeable toll on his body, he died first almost every round. Some days his vision would be blurry even with his glasses, others the bags under his eyes got darker and weighed his eyelids down. Exhaustion pulled at his every move, his limbs sometimes feeling too heavy to function.

Hiding all of this hasn’t been all that easy though. The thing that’s made it the most difficult is that guest 1337 has started checking up on him more. The other survivors didn’t seem too concerned about his absence, not even batting an eye at the fact that he hadn’t even come out of his cabin to eat sometimes. But 1337 was different…

He had a sharp eye, The soldier was gradually seeming to notice the fact that the exploiter was actively avoiding him the most out of anyone else. 007n7 tended to avoid most people but lately it was guest that he was visibly steering clear of the most. Even in rounds, 007n7 would avoid guest 1337 like the plague. It was most apparent Whenever guest would try to make small talk with the other man, now instead of just cold and distant remarks, 007n7 wouldn’t respond to him. Wouldn’t react or even look at him, he’d just remain silent and walk away. Even with the other survivors he’d at least nod or shake his head, but when it came to the war vet he just stopped acknowledging him all together.

guest had tried giving him space at first, probably thinking that he had overstepped 007n7’s boundaries in some way, but when that just made 007n7 avoid him even more the soldier started to take matters into his own hands.

The other man started to check up on him more frequently, knocking on his cabin door every once in a while to see how he was doing. Asking him if he was doing alright, if he ate that day, if he even slept at all. 007n7 would lie, saying he was doing just fine. That he had only slipped into the main cabin to eat when no one was around, that he had definitely gotten enough sleep last night.

Guest appeared to be fine with that response but judging from the cadence in the man’s voice, he could probably tell that 007n7 was lying. But if he knew he didn’t say anything, probably just figured that 007n7 would tell him what was wrong when he was ready. The veteran would even try to take him food sometimes, but 007n7 would always reject it, not wanting to let the man in while his horns were still visible. 1337 still left it on the doorstep for him. Little did the soldier know, 007n7 was not ever planning on telling the other man what was wrong. This was something he’d rather take to the grave. Guest’s kindness was misplaced.

If anything it was probably just pity, That’s all it ever was. Guest 1337 probably just felt bad for him, nothing more. It’s not like 007n7 even really deserved a friend like him anyway, guest should’ve just let him starve. He’s not a child, 007n7 is a grown adult, he shouldn’t need someone to check on him. Even if he desperately wanted companionship right now to fill the void that was his baby boy, he shouldn’t need it. he should be able to dig himself out of this hole all on his own. Guest 1337 shouldn’t need to waste his time checking on him when there are more important things that probably need his attention. 007n7 is probably just being selfish like always, at least that’s what Elliot would always tell him.

Make no mistake, 007n7 did want guest near him, he wanted to be able to hug him. wanted 1337 to squeeze him until he couldn’t feel feelings anymore. To be able to be safe in his arms again, relaxed, vulnerable, not having to worry about hiding behind his dingy cabin any longer. To just be able to spill his guts and tell the man everything that was wrong with him, every bad thought he’d been having. But no, 007n7 just had to keep him within arms reach, just had to bottle everything up until he drowned in his own tears. He’d continue to Push guest away until his body could actually be normal around him, until he didn’t have to push down every purr that wanted to escape his throat when he was only a few inches away from him. But with the path his body was currently heading toward that probably wasn’t going to end up happening any time soon. This secret was something 007n7 was intent on keeping to the grave, just so he didn’t have to go through the despair of losing another friend.

He could only hope that whatever cruel being that decided to trap him here would finally put him out of his misery, ending his pitiful existence already…

007n7 currently lay sprawled on his bed, lying on his stomach. He had a terrible migraine, one that hadn’t gone away in days, it was also probably because he hadn’t slept in days. Sleeping was something he always struggled with here, insomnia hitting him at the most inconvenient hours. He could barely ever get a good night's sleep, usually due to either his terrible nightmares or intrusive thoughts.

Even before the horns he was always exhausted. He was suddenly snapped out of his thoughts by Heavy Pounding on his door, crap. He immediately sat up, snapping his head towards the door. Whoever was at the door chose a terrible time to come considering the fact that his horns and tail weren’t even obscured, the program paused because he had accidentally overused it and had an episode the night before.

“007n7! We need to talk!” Oh goddamnit, It was guest 1337.

The absolute last person he wanted knocking on his door right now. And he used the full name… Fuck…. 007n7 considered just waiting for him to leave but he really didn’t want to ruin his relationship with guest even more so he slowly got up from the bed and leaned on the wall near to the door. Guest 1337 sounded a bit more upset than usual and the exploiter really wasn’t looking to make the soldier even madder than he probably already was.

007n7 replied in a voice that was almost a whisper,

“…What is it?..”

Guest 1337 seemed to pause for a moment, seemingly taken aback by the fact that 007n7 actually replied to him for once..

The soldier sighed, before responding. “Can I come in?” He asked, in a less standoffish tone.

“….No.. not right now..”

“ seven-“ guest paused, sighing heavily. “Never mind, that’s alright. Can we just… talk? I haven’t seen you out of your cabin in days...”

007n7 hesitated slightly, He didn’t make a move to open the door.

“…Alright, what do you wanna talk about?”

“….” guest 1337 seemed pause to pause again, “You….”,

the guest continued. “ What's been going on with you seven? Why have you been avoiding me so much recently? I mean, I had thought maybe that you had just wanted some space and that that was why you were being so distant but…” he paused.

“God, You’ve been acting so strange, you’ve been hiding, lying, you’ve even been starving yourself.. Did…Did I do something wrong?” His voice audibly wavered, striking 007n7 right in the chest. “Is that why you’ve been avoiding me so much? Why you’ve been avoiding the main cabin so much? D.. Do I make you uncomfortable seven?-” guest’s voice was starting to crack, it broke 007n7’s heart to hear him talk like that.

“No! O-Of course not! It’s just-I!” 007n7 had to pause and take a breath.

“It's nothing guest, the rounds are probably just getting to me is all! I-I’ll be fine.. you don’t need to worry about me, I promise..” At this point he could already feel the pain from the migraine getting worse as the stress from the situation had intensified. Putting more of his weight on the wall for support.

“ I don’t think so, seven…” 1337’s tone was dripping with skepticism.

fuck. This wasn’t looking well for 007n7. Guest continues.

“ You're not fine, anyone could recognize that at a first glance. Even some of the other survivors are starting to get worried about you.” 007n7 nervously shifted his weight to one foot, surprised that the other survivors seemed to have actually noticed his attempts at self-sabotaging. “Every time I see you, you look almost half-dead. I can tell that you haven’t been getting any sleep, Sev. why won’t you just tell me what’s going on?”

“Guest, it’s really not that much of a big deal, I swear!.. I-I think you’re probably just making this out to be a bigger problem than it needs to be and—!”

“ Seven, if this really isn’t “that much of a big deal” then It shouldn’t exactly be that hard for you to open that door right now and show me that there’s nothing going on with you!”

Goddamnit, he was done for now.. he knew guest wasn’t yelling at him or anything but it still felt so nerve wracking to hear that stern tone coming from him. It was fine though, he could still salvage this. He just needed to execute the program for just another few seconds, show guest there was nothing wrong and turn it off once he left. Easy peasy! In the remaining silence that followed, seven used it to his advantage and opened his gui with the remaining cognitive strength he had. Executing the program with the click of a few buttons. As his horns and tail regressed back into his body, he heard guest 1337 speak after taking a couple of deep breaths.

“Listen seven, you don’t have to open the door if you don’t want to… hell, you don’t even need to let me in or anything like that—just—“ Guest let out an exasperated sigh, “I just need to know how you’re doing, alright? I care about you and I want you to be okay. I really miss talking with you sev, and you haven’t even had an actual conversation with me in weeks, jackass..”

he scoffed at that last part, probably trying to lighten the mood. It worked, evidently. 007n7 unfortunately couldn’t control his muffled giggles, the nausea from the headache and exhaustion making his brain foggy. The previous anger and frustration in the soldier's voice was gone, replaced with quiet uncertainty. Like he was trying not to scare 007n7 away.. Guest 1337 huffed at the sound of the other man’s giggles.

“Yeah, yeah.. laugh at me all you want sev, I know I’m a sap but…” His voice tapered off for a second, “..Listen, if you’re really not comfortable with coming out it’s fine, I won’t force you to, just.. Please at least consider-” 007n7 interrupted him.

“Fine…”

“Wait… what?—”

007n7 decided to open the door against his better judgment, though only opening it a smidge, squinting a bit as the rays of the afternoon sunset filled the crack of the door before his eyes eventually focused on guest’s hulking figure. Guest 1337 was dressed in his usual free time attire—tank top and all—silver dog tags reflecting on the setting sun. The soldier’s blue hair was wet and slightly messy, he had probably showered recently. Guest 1337’s face however, was one of surprise, as if he hadn’t actually expected to even get this far.

007n7 just blinked at him. “See?.. told you, nothing’s wrong, guest. I’m fine, really.”

Guest 1337 took a good look at him, brows furrowed, arms crossed against his chest. His sapphire blue eyes scanned the other man thoroughly, as if he wasn’t convinced.. “Hmm, I don’t know seven.. you still don’t look all that fine to me.. your postures off and your eyes look really heavy. ”

“I’m just a little tired..”

“I can see that, how many hours have you even been sleeping recently?”

“I uh, haven’t been keeping track, to be completely honest. I think I’m just getting too old for life...”

“Oh come on, you know that’s not true! I’ve seen you run circles around the killer like 50 times! Not to mention that one time when you somehow had the energy to punch me in the gut so hard I keeled over.” The soldier retorted.

“It was an accident, you scared me! And if you didn’t want to get hit in the gut maybe you should’ve just stepped out of the way..” The hacker said with a grin deviously, he still felt really guilty about that moment but he was happy that they could joke and laugh about it.

“You are impossible, you know that?” The guest said, feigning an exasperated tone with a slight smile.

“Eh yeah, but I like myself better that way..” 007n7 stuck his tongue out at the other man, guest just threw his head back and laughed.

“God, You’re so stupid…” guest 1337 barely managed to say, running out of breath.

“Hmph, I thought you liked that about me, soldier boy..”

“Unfortunately.”

007n7 just drowsily giggled. Glad that their relationship could still be the same as it was before. The nausea was slowly getting worse but guest 1337 was keeping him distracted at least. He could barely stand upright right now, leaning on the doorframe for support. It was made even worse by the fact that he constantly had to be clearing his throat because of the purrs.

Guest noticed his balance wavering after a bit, his eyes softening. brow furrowed in concern. “…you alright? You’re slippin’ a little on that doorframe. ya sure you didn’t stay up all night or something?” He asked softly, tone a lot more gentle than before.

“Probably, I don’t really know… or care ... .I'll probably be fine though, I don’t feel that tired or anything..”

“Your eyes would say otherwise, seven. Seriously, you really need to start sleeping more.”

“S’fine, I’ll… probably be—fine.. not a big deal.”

007n7’s vision had started to blur, his balance starting to suffer too. He thought he could just walk it off until his eyelids started feeling heavier. He could even feel sweat dripping down his face, or was it something else? 007n7 could feel his mind already in a daze, all of his senses starting to swim. His hearing was starting to sound like he was underwater, his breaths quickly growing ragged. A muffled voice in the midst of his foggy mind appeared. He could hear someone saying something to him, but he could only make out certain words.

“Jesus—…!..Seven!… you're ... .is bleeding!!”

Who was that again?

007n7 could feel firm, calloused hands gripping his shoulders, gently shaking him, trying to get a response. Suddenly the hacker felt his knees buckle under the exhaustion and pain, his body almost crumpling to the ground. 007n7 couldn’t Move any of his limbs, it all went numb and his vision turned dark. Well, this was certainly…unfortunate. The last thing 007n7 felt before completely losing consciousness was the warm touch of someone quickly catching him before he could hit the floor, he could hear their voice calling out his name before everything faded as his mind went numb.

Guest 1337 had luckily managed to catch 007n7 before he hit the ground, but he really wasn’t sure what to do now. One moment the guy’s teasing and laughing at him, the next the man’s nose starts bleeding heavily and his eyes are rolling into the back of his head as he collapses in exhaustion without another word. He knew something was up with the hacker but he didn’t know it was this bad.

Dear lord, They were definitely going to have to have a serious talk after this. Closing the front door behind him with his free arm, guest 1337 had tried to gently shake seven into hopefully waking up but unfortunately that worked to no avail, not even calling his name numerous times made him budge. The other man currently lay limp in his arms, mouth slightly agape with his head lolled against guest’s shoulder, nose still bleeding heavily. 007n7 was still breathing but his breaths were ragged and unstable. There was barely any color in his face, making his skin look almost as white as guests.
God, he was so pale and bloody that he almost looked dead… Guest 1337 was panicked, eyes uselessly flitting over the hacker’s unresponsive body. The familiar scene nearly reminding him of the last memory he had left of Matt, bloodstains and all.

“Shit.. what do I do?!”  
He looked around the cabin, his head snapping in every direction. Luckily spotting tissues on the bedside drawer next to the door, He quickly grabbed them from the table, having to shift his grip on seven’s body slightly to reach it. He grabbed a tissue from the box and gently pressed it against the hacker's nose, careful not to obstruct his mouth too much so 007n7 could breathe.

Guest 1337 had to tilt the man’s head slightly forward so the blood flowing down his nostrils wouldn’t start dripping into his mouth and lungs and choke him. Once the blood flow started to settle down he discarded the now bloodied tissue and grabbed a fresh one from the box, dabbing it over the fresh blood that slowly kept trickling down the man’s lips. That is, until 007n7’s body suddenly started going from limp to shaking uncontrollably, the hacker’s breathing stuttering frantically.

Guest 1337 could even see some of seven’s fingers start to twitch. His lax eyes started to squeeze in what looked like pain as sweat began dripping from his face, seven’s chest heaving as he started to take gasping breaths while his entire body shook. Guest 1337 could only try to rub circles on the man’s back in a desperate attempt of comfort, trying to whisper reassurances in the man’s ear. Gently rocking back and forth in hopes of trying to keep him calm, now pausing his previous actions of wiping the blood from the man’s face. Unfortunately the shaking only got way worse, eventually to the point where seven had started silently crying, tears streaming down his cheeks while his body continued to twitch in pain.

God, this was brutal, What was even happening to him?! Was he having a seizure—Did they even have the medicine for that? Guest 1337 knew basic military first aid training but he was never told what to do when someone started having a seizure… Guest 1337 couldn’t take it anymore.

“Fuck…i don’t know if you can hear me but— you’re gonna be okay sev, you’re gonna be alright just- just stay with me.. Try and focus on my voice alright?” He murmured into the hacker’s ear, trying to hold him close as he rubbed circles into his back.

The soldier rested his cheek on the man’s forehead to hopefully ground him. At first guest had thought that it had maybe worked since 007n7 seemed to still for a second until something strange happened. 007n7’s entire body stiffened and suddenly jerked upwards. Guest 1337 could only hear a wet splatter and crack of something that sounded like bone and blood before he felt the top of 007n7’s head collide with his jaw painfully, and in the same motion something sharp quickly slice across his right cheek.

Guest ended up getting shoved backwards with a grunt, mostly from the impact and force of the hit, 007n7 landed on his hands and knees right next to him. Guest 1337 quietly hissed and reached up to feel the slice across his right cheek, it was a shallow cut, probably wouldn’t scar if treated properly. Still, it stung quite badly and blood was already streaming down his cheek, just what the hell had even struck him? He got his answer soon enough when he had snapped his attention towards the man sprawled right next to him, eyes widening at the sight before him. 007n7, shaking violently, propped up on two arms, with two bright red horns sticking out of his head with a similarly matching tail between his legs.

The soldier noticed a bit of his blood lightly coating the tip of one of 007n7’s horns, color almost blending in with the shade of red. That wasn’t what guest 1337 was the most concerned about however, as the hacker was currently coughing up bile and blood. Seemingly Half conscious, swaying dangerously on his knees.

The soldier immediately picked himself up, quickly staggering over to the other man before kneeling in front of him. 1337 gently took one of the man’s hands and squeezed twice, putting his other hand behind sevens’s arched back and rubbing small circles into it with his thumb. 007n7 didn’t even look up, his eyes glazed over and half lidded, just sitting there silently sobbing while more blood dripped from his mouth. Guest let go of the hacker’s hand and back for a second, deciding to grab another tissue from where the box currently lay, cupping 007n7’s cheek and using it to wipe away most of the remaining blood on the man’s pale face. 007n7 seemed to subconsciously lean into his touch. After a bit, seven suddenly slumped forward towards the soldier, guest 1337 unsurprisingly caught him.

He set the bloody tissue off to the side and adjusted his grip on the hacker. Guest shifting the other man into a more comfortable position, laying him across his lap carefully and tucking the man’s face into the crook of his neck, trying to be careful with his horns. Thankfully, 007n7’s breathing had gradually slowed and his body had finally stopped shaking. At least Seven had finally seemed to have calmed down somewhat. Guest’s body suddenly tensed a bit however, as he felt something slowly wrapping around his leg and holding on tightly.

But his body soon relaxed once he realized what it was.

Sevens tail.

The soldier smiled warmly, running a hand through seven’s silky brown hair a couple of times. Trying to be careful to avoid touching the man’s horns after 007n7 flinched numerous times whenever guest’s hands would nearly even graze them. Then, he felt 007n7 nuzzle into him in response. The soldier felt the other man’s arms wrap around his torso, hands gripping onto the back of his tank top as he continued to nuzzle his cheek into the guest’s broad chest.

What surprised him the most though, was the quiet rumbling that was coming out of 007n7’s throat. Is he…purring? A faint red blush painted the veteran’s cheeks, the hacker’s unconscious mannerisms almost reminding him of that of a cat’s. His eyes faintly softened as he recalled when he used to feed stray cats as a kid every time he walked back home from school, their behavior shockingly similar to 007n7’s.

But Seven was nothing close to an animal, he didn’t act like one and this didn’t make guest 1337 think of him as one, but it was still very… cute, for lack of a better word. This new appearance didn’t change anything about how Guest saw the other man though, in his eyes Seven was still a person. He was not a pet, or an oversized stray cat, new mannerisms be damned. He was his friend, one of his closest friends here at that. Not even the fresh cut on his cheek changed the way he thought of seven, the hacker had always been there for him when he needed it most and he’d be damned if he didn’t return the favor.

007n7 would regularly help him when he was injured in rounds, constantly insisting on bandaging the soldier up when he saw him bleeding. Even out of rounds, seven would always know how to console him when the soldiers' flashbacks would accidentally get triggered by something incidental like chance’ gun going off or lightning when it would always rain. The hacker always knew how to calm him down.

Guest snapped out of his thoughts when he heard seven let out a pained groan, shifting in his arms. He looked down to see 007n7s lax face suddenly flushed a deep red, his skin no longer as pale as a ghost. It wasn’t any better though, if anything it was worse. The hacker's skin was starting to feel warm, almost like he was sick or something. Guest 1337 put a hand on the man’s forehead to check the temperature and recoiled when he felt how scorching hot it was.

Looks like he had a really bad fever, god, this was gonna be a long night…

***

007n7 had woken up in a daze, drowsily finding himself lying on something soft. The hacker could feel something that felt like a thin, fluffy quilt covering the lower half of his body. A gentle weight rested between his horns that felt like a soft, lukewarm, wet cloth placed carefully on his forehead. He tried to open his eyes at first but they felt like they were glued shut, the heavy bags under his eyes not helping. It was then that 007n7 noticed His glasses were missing from his face, weird, he couldn’t remember taking them off. His head was killing him, his whole frame feeling unforgivably cold.

The ex-exploiter’s entire body was sore with fatigue and felt frustratingly fragile, he could barely move a muscle as his mind slowly started coming to. It felt like hours before he was able to crack his eyes open a little without them immediately drooping back down. 007n7 stared at the wooden ceiling for a few seconds before blinking, sluggishly reaching a hand up to take the already warm wet rag off of his head. It was at that moment that he suddenly heard slow, steady breathing right next to him. He quickly snapped his eyes towards the sound of the breathing, only to be met with a familiar scarred face.

Guest 1337, Asleep, sitting on a chair that looked like it was dragged right next to the bed where 007n7 had been—previously—sleeping. His blue hair had been mused from sleep, arms crossed tightly over his chest even in his slumber, light bags sitting under his eyes as if the man had been up for hours. His head dipped downward. What concerned 007n7 the most however, was the large bandage covering the man’s right cheek. Did.. did 007n7 do that? Now that the man thought about it, his horns and tail were revealed. Fuck, did he have another episode again?! Is that why his memory of before now was so muddled? Oh god, that means guest 1337 knows… Probably not about the program or anything—thank god—but he’s probably seen 007n7’s horns and tail already! the soldier more than likely knows what He is now, how did he not realize that as soon as he woke up?! 007n7’s breathing quickened, his hands fisting in the fabric of the quilt that was covering him, the soldier hadn’t said or done anything to him yet but who’s to say he wouldn’t once woke up.

007n7 probably panicked during the episode and hurt him, that’s why he had that bandage on his cheek. 007n7 probably deserved whatever punishment or insults guest might spew at him once he woke up. Sure, Guest 1337 had seemed to have been the one who had carried him to the bed and set the wet rag on his forehead to help bring down his fever but that was probably out of pity or fear! So what if guest 1337 had never shown any sort of outright hatred or hostility towards him before, it was still technically a possibility! 007n7 had slowly tried to sit up a bit, mostly so he could slip off of the bed sneakily and hopefully get somewhere far away from the other survivors and guest, but that plan was soon abandoned when the springs in the mattress ended up creaking loudly from the movement. Guest 1337 stirred from the noise, letting out a quiet groan as he sleepily rubbed his eyes.

….Goddamnit.

As guest 1337 opened his eyes, the soldier immediately noticed that 007n7 was staring straight at him, sitting upright and awake. Guest’s eyes widened in shock as he quickly leaned forward in his chair, arms uncrossing, elbows resting on his knees instead. The veteran’s eyes examined the other man extremely thoroughly, as if he was trying to make sure he wasn’t gonna disappear. After a bit the soldier sighed in relief, his shoulders slumping at the same time.

“…You’re awake, thank god.” 1337 almost whispered, looking at 007n7 with an intense look that couldn’t easily be named. Guest continued.

“ You passed out earlier, I don't know if you can remember, but at first you and I had just been talking normally, I had asked if you had gotten any sleep and you just… dodged the question,” The veteran ran a hand through his messy blue hair, eyes closing for a brief moment, he seemed kind of tense. “You looked tired but I didn’t think anything was horribly wrong until.. you started swaying and your nose randomly started bleeding, you weren’t even really reacting to anything I was saying to you…” The soldier’s expression started looking grim, but he still continued on.

“Gosh, You don’t know how scared I was when you lasted barely even 2 seconds before you collapsed without another word…” he paused, voice wavering, his eyes watering.

“You were unresponsive for a while, nothing I did seemed to wake you up. your skin was so pale, I swear… And then you just started shaking and writhing on the floor while all I could do was just sit there holding you close, just hoping that whatever was happening to you would eventually pass. That you wouldn’t just leave me right then and there. Fuck, I was so scared that you were gonna die sev…”

Guest’s hands were trembling now, his eyes were dark and grim, like he was remembering something terrible. 007n7 had recognized that look, he’d seen it many times on him before. He wanted to tell guest that he was fine, that he didn’t have to worry about him, that he was used to this kind of thing already. But there wasn’t a chance in hell that guest 1337 would take that for an answer again, not like last time, the dark look in the man’s eyes told him that he wasn’t gonna let 007n7 push him away any time soon. Guest had seemed to have already read his mind, putting a hand up as 007n7 opened his mouth to speak, making him stop in his tracks.

“Seven, please tell me the truth. For pete’s sake, Don’t try to tell me you’re okay or that everything’s fine because I know for a fact it’s not. “ guest 1337 glared at him, his face was a mixture of frustration and concern. “You know that I care for you and want to help you seven, I’ve told you that too many times to count. But you can’t keep doing this, hiding this kind of thing from me isn’t gonna make me any less worried about you. In fact, I think it usually does the complete opposite, so—please actually tell me what’s going on this time.” The man pleaded.

The war veteran’s eyes softened at that last part, as did his tone. 007n7 didn’t know what to say, he was surprised the man hadn’t even mentioned his horns or tail at all. Was he… actually that unbothered by them? How strange. Still, 007n7 wasn’t sure how guest 1337 was going to react once he told him that he had been hiding something much worse than just the horns and tail.

The program. What it was doing to his body. The fact that he had been lying to guest about this for so long… Well, judging by guest’s reaction, he most-likely already knew that but the truth was certainly going to be a lot worse than he’d probably been expecting it to be. 007n7 was snapped out of his thoughts by a warm hand gently gripping his shoulder, holding on firmly but leaving enough room for him to pull away if he needed to. He looked up at guest, not even realizing he’d been spacing out previously.

Guest 1337’s face was deeply etched in concern, his sapphire blue eyes intensely gazed into his own, like they were trying to strip down his deepest darkest layers. The retired hacker’s tail nervously curled around his own leg, 007n7 briefly glancing away in shame, he really couldn’t get out of this now could he? 007n7 just sighed, better to get this over with now rather than later…

“I’m really sorry 1337 I just— I was so scared that if you or anyone else saw my horns or tail you’d freak out and think that I was a monster or something. I thought that everyone would just fear me and avoid me even more, including you— and I just..” —he gripped the quilt tightly.— “I don’t think I would be able to handle you hating me too, not like that. Losing my son already made me feel like life was falling away from me but losing you in that way, almost like I did with Noli... That’d probably be the final thing to push me over the edge.”

007n7 was on the verge of tears, his lip quivering as guest ever so slightly tightened his grip on the man’s shoulder. 007n7 didn’t look at him after that. He could feel guest’s eyes on him but 007n7 just couldn’t bear to see the possible hurt in the man’s eyes.

“Is that what this has been about? Oh, Sev…” guest’s voice was raspy, sounding almost as if his throat was really dry. 007n7 felt the weight of the man’s hand move off of his shoulder, instead gently holding both of 007n7’s palms in his. Guest 1337’s calloused hands were warm, his palms rough but tender. The soldier’s hands were much larger than his but he still held them carefully, like they were fragile glass.

Then softly, he said,
“Seven, I would never hate you for something that you can’t control. Rest assured, I’m pretty sure none of the other survivors would either. And even then, your horns and tail don’t bother me at all, don’t ever think you have to hide them from me or anyone else just because they might make someone uncomfortable. You only just got them tonight, right?”

Hesitantly, 007n7 shook his head. Guest faltered, tilting his head slightly in confusion. “…how long have you had them then? I don’t think I’ve ever seen you with them until now.”

007n7 dipped his head down. “Uh. Two or three months now I think…” he let out, voice no quieter than a whisper.

Guest looked stunned at that, eyes widened and his mouth slightly agape. “Two or three months?!— holy.. And you’re only just telling me this now!” He asked, bewildered.
007n7 winced a bit at the slight volume raise in his voice. He could tell guest was trying not to be too loud or dramatic but it was still a bit hard to see him like this. The soldier noticed and seemed to deflate a little bit.

“ Listen seven, I’m not mad at you. I'm just shocked that you kept this from me for so long. It makes sense why you had never come out of your cabin at all in hindsight. You’ll have to fill me in on how you were able to even hide them.” he paused.

“ Why on earth did you think I would hate you just for having horns?”

007n7 exhaled slowly, “ I dunno, my thoughts just ended up getting the better of me I suppose.. Everyone else is always avoiding me, and I deserve it, but the possibility of you doing the same thing just overwhelmed me. You were one of the few people here who showed me kindness and respect even when you found out I was an exploiter, and I didn’t wanna risk you getting upset or disgusted by me. So I just… tried to push you away and hoped that you wouldn’t notice.”

007n7’s voice cracked as a few tears rolled down his face. Guest 1337 squeezed his hands twice in reassurance. 007n7 decided to continue, telling guest 1337 about the program, its uses, and how badly it drained his body. Even tearfully telling him about the purring, episodes and new behaviors his body was experiencing. How dehumanizing it all felt.

Guest listened, letting him talk and squeezing his hands every time he would start choking up even more. When he was finished he finally dared to look guest in the eyes. The soldier looked heartbroken, his grip on 007n7’s hands subconsciously tightening, eyebrows furrowed in deep concern. He looked like he wanted to ask a million questions right now but was holding off on asking due to how tired and exhausted 007n7 looked.

“Sev.. Please tell me you won’t use that program ever again.”

“Guest, I can't just—“

“007n7, listen to me.” Guest’s tone grew serious. “From what you’ve told me and from what I’ve seen, that program is slowly killing you. The side effects from that thing are brutal from what I witnessed earlier and the more you keep using it the more it’s gonna take a toll on your body.”

“But— I can’t just go out walking around like this, I can’t do that guest—“

“Hey, hey, calm down sev, it’s going to be fine. Listen, at this point you’re better off dealing with whatever judgment you might get from the others rather than dealing with something that is slowly weighing you down and making your body cave in on itself. Think about it. What if it kills you? What if you don’t come back? What if you don’t wake up? I think you can see why I’m so worried about this.”

“And even if the others freak out, I promise I’ll be there to help you every step of the way. You don’t have to go through this alone, sev.” Guest added, his mouth turning into a lopsided grin.

007n7 just looked at the man deeply for a second before he started to bawl his eyes out. Quietly Sobbing while the other man briefly took his hands off his and instead placed them on 007n7’s shoulders, rubbing them gently. 007n7 couldn’t take it anymore and threw himself at the soldier, tightly hugging him. Guest 1337 seemed to still for a moment before hugging him back just as tightly. 007n7 felt like he was finally at peace, his throat no longer hurt as he was finally letting himself purr. They stayed like that for a while. until guest 1337 pulled back slightly, cupping 007n7’s cheeks and pressing his forehead against 007n7’s.

“Get some rest, okay? We’ll talk more about this when you’re feeling better. Remember, you still have a fever, don’t strain yourself.” He murmured.

007n7 nodded, guest 1337 pulled him back into an embrace and started carding his hand through 007n7’s messy hair, the hacker melted into his touch. 007n7 was thankful that he could feel guest trying to be careful not to touch his sensitive horns. 007n7 could feel the way his tail wagged as he snuggled into 1337’s broad chest even more. As he was lulled to sleep by guest’s hand running through his wavy hair, he stupidly opened his mouth without thinking.

“Mmh.. Hey guest?”

“Yeah?”

“Thank you.”

“For what?”

“For treating me like a person.”

“…”

“You don’t need to thank me for doing the bare minimum, seven. I’m sure you would’ve done the same for me.”

“Mhm… ‘m really sorry for hurting you earlier, I didn't mean to.”

“I know, it’s okay. Believe me, I’ve had worse. It was just a scratch, don't even worry about it sev.”

A comfortable silence stretched between them before 007n7 sleepily mumbled. “G’night, I love you guest— but like.. not in a weird way y’know.”

Guest stilled for a few minutes before responding, “ I love you too, sev. Get some sleep.”

007n7 sleepily giggled, a dopey smile plastered across his face. The fever seemed to be making him stupid.

“S’that mean… we’re boyfriend and girlfriend now?” He joked, his brain too tired to stop itself.

Guest chuckled warmly. He seemed to know. “Don’t push your luck sev, I’m a married man.” The soldier teased.

“Heh, so you say… What makes you think I won’t try to steal your wife too?”

“Shut up and go to bed already you little devil.” Guest quipped, his voice holding no malice or hostility.

007n7 chortles gleefully. He feels guest 1337 shift a bit, picking him up for a second before moving to sit down on the bed, 007n7 still tucked into his arms.

As soon as he sat down, 007n7’s tail wrapped around guest’s leg tightly, bringing them closer together. The retired hacker just relished in the feeling of 1337's warmth seeping into him, he could feel the man’s stubble catch on his hair a bit as he rested his chin on 007n7’s head.

The fever was probably going to be much worse in the morning. But that didn’t stop 007n7 from savoring the moment.

007n7’s mind slowly drifted into a dreamless sleep, finally at peace for the first time in months.

Chapter Text

Fetid, 

That’s the only way that he could describe the smell. 

Embers drifted around 007n7, hot flames burning all around him. But the smell was the only thing he could focus on. The smell of burnt skin and flesh wafted through the air, smoke pouring into his lungs with every strained breath he took. Still, 007n7 didn’t move. He stayed rooted to the spot where stood, he already knew this old song and dance, knew what was coming. 

Cries of a child, his child, wailing for help, trying to bait him into walking through the flames. He fell for it the first couple of times this had happened, until it eventually broke him. 007n7 knew now, His baby’s voice was distorted, it wasn’t right. It sounded like a cheap imitation, just a broken record now, Nothing more. If he walked forward he’d get a claw to his back and a hand around his neck. If he stood there, he’d just get burned alive. He’d prefer that over getting killed by the twisted eldritch monster that his son had become here, this dream was always the same. Sometimes it would change but it was never for the better, one time the flames had consumed his son’s entire body and left him with nothing but a burning corpse to sob over, he threw up after that one. The only thing that ever mattered was his decision. And that only ever ended in death and tragedy. What was the point anymore? 

He was prepared to face the wrath of the hot flames that would consume his flesh and engulf his remains. But strangely, the flames dissipated. Only leaving behind the charred parking lot of the pizza place that he and his son would frequent. 007n7’s eyes widened, that’s never happened before. Was it some sort of trick? However, his entire face recoiled when a hand abruptly collided with his cheek painfully. He fell to the ground pathetically, his cheek was numb from the sting of the hit  and his glasses were hanging off of his face. His head snapped upward to the person who had slapped him, cradling his already bruised cheek. He looked up to see Elliot, a furious expression on his face. 

“E-Ellio—?”

007n7 was cut off by Elliot’s hand yanking fistfulls of his hair up harshly, the pain causing 007n7 to cry out in pain and confusion. 

“Pathetic. All you ever do is whine and make everything about yourself, don’t you? You think getting rid of those horns will make everyone hate you less? You’re wrong, and you know it. They’ll hate you regardless of them, I know I do. You haven’t changed one bit, you’re still a horrible person no matter how much you try to convince yourself and everyone else. You’re just a useless, pathetic waste of air. You couldn’t even raise your own kid properly, you made him into just as much of a monster as you are.” Elliot’s face was painted in a vengeful sneer.

007n7 instinctively clawed at the hand pulling his hair, the stinging pain making him breathe heavily. 

“…I-I.. I TRIED MY BEST TO RAISE HIM! I’M NOT PERFECT—”

Elliot pulled at his hair even harder. Tears pricked at his eyes.

“And what excuse does that give you?! You’ve still shown that you’re still a terrible person, though and through. You’re selfish, negligent, and make up excuses for your own sorry actions. You’re a level of pathetic that I wouldn’t stoop to, not to mention stupid as shit. I bet that kid FUCKING hates you and I wouldn’t blame him.”  Elliot spat.

007n7 was frozen, he barely felt like he could fight back. And as much as 007n7 didn’t want to think about it, he was right, wasn’t he? 

They were all right about him, the other survivors. No matter how much he tried to convince himself that he could change and be accepted, that would never happen. Everyone here hates him, even his own son. His presence only makes people exasperated and angry, he’s nothing but a burden to everyone around him. And C00lkidd… C00lkidd was never happy being raised by him, was he? 007n7 is a terrible parent, he should have clued that in from the moment he first held c00lkid, he should have just given him to someone who could really take care of him. Fucking irresponsible, that’s what he was. 

Self deprecation really was his strong suit, wasn’t it? 

(At this point, he would really just be better off d-)

007n7 felt his head dip down from the sudden lack of tugging.The hand pulling his hair disappeared, as did Elliot. 007n7 looked around frantically, confused about where the pizza boy could’ve went. He gagged as a pair of arms tightly wrapped around his neck and shoulders from behind him, almost suffocating him. 007n7 tried struggling out of the stranger's grip, attempting to shove their arms off of him. Unexpectedly, he heard his own voice dementedly giggling into his ear, it was raspy and sounded like road tires squeaking on concrete.  “Don’t kid yourself, you should know the only kindness that you’ll ever receive here is out of pity.” 

007n7 froze in horror when he heard those words. The other him just held on to his neck tighter.

“No one here would even notice if you disappeared. And what, you think that delusional soldier actually likes you? What a fucking joke, if he REALLY cared about us, he’d be doing more than just the bare minimum. The only reason that asshole pretends to care for you is because of how much you bring everyone down, there’s nothing else to it besides fierce pity. I’m sure that washed up old war vet probably cares more about those disgusting horns of ours more than he’d like to admit. I know his type, he’s the kind of person who pretends to care for others because they couldn’t give less of a damn about themselves. Sound awfully familiar?” 

007n7 snapped out of his terrified stupor, squirming even more and starting to claw at the tight grip around his neck. 

“No… You… that’s not true!”, 007n7 managed to choke out. “…G-Guest wouldn’t—!” 

A hand abruptly slapped over 007n7’s mouth, muffling his voice. “Oh shut up, he would, and you know it. Have you not learned from your past mistakes? We both know what happens when someone gets too close; they see us for who we really are and they run. What makes you think he’ll be any different?” 

007n7 struggled for a bit before managing to shove the doppelgänger away. He gasped as he struggled to catch his breath, rubbing his throat. 007n7 snapped his head to the side to see another him, but instead of his appearance now, it seemed to be a carbon copy of himself when he was younger. 

The same shady black and red hoodie, tied together with horrible face acne and crimson red horns that were a much brighter red than the ones he currently possessed. The other him just gave a twisted smile. 

“You can’t escape the past, 007n7. You’ll never be rid of me.” The copy said, standing up with a wet pop and crack of his bones, revealing a twisted posture.

It was only then that 007n7 noticed that the other him had what looked like a gunshot wound to the head, brains exposed grotesquely and almost dangling out of his cranium. 

The other him tsked, unimpressed. “Coward… Why do you run? You realize it's all futile, right? In the end, you’ll just end up like me. History always repeats itself, you of all people should know that.” 

007n7 stood up slowly, beginning to shakily back away from the twisted copy of himself that was inching towards him until his back collided with a wall. He was backed into a corner now, his eyes were wide with panic as It looked like the whole map was closing in on him. 007n7’s heart was about to leap out of his chest.

He squeezed his eyes shut.

This wasn’t real, this wasn’t real, this wasn’t real, this wasn’t real— 

Somehow,  he heard Guest 1337’s voice ring out suddenly. 007n7 forced his eyes open as soon as he heard the quiet fury that consumed the man’s tone.

“Why, 007n7? Why do you always lie to me? Is it because you hate me? Am I just that much of an inconvenience to you?”

“Guest 1337” was standing in front of where his copy once stood, looks like the thing disappeared just like Elliot. Did that bastard take Guest’s appearance just to fuck with him? His face wasn’t even correct, the man’s features were wrong and looked almost uncanny. His posture was slumped and he looked too mad and too tense. But his voice seemed to know how to cut into 007n7’s heart and make it hurt. The words in 007n7’s throat wouldn’t come out. 

The eerie silence between them stretched. 

“Tch, fine, keep your secrets. I don’t even know why I bother with you anymore, it’s obvious that you can’t even be a useful asset to the team let alone actually be a sensible fucking adult. At this point, I don’t even blame Elliot for hating you.” 

The man spat, his tone seeped in quiet vitriol. 

007n7 almost flinched at the man’s words, feeling tears pouring down his face, his body shaking uncontrollably at the soldiers' words. He could already feel himself shaking and hyperventilating.

“W-Wh—Guest, I-I… you don’t understand—!” 

“Guest” suddenly ran up to him and grabbed him by the collar harshly. 007n7 yelped in surprise, his eyes wide, looking up at guests in fear. “Guest” pulled him closer and whispered something into his ear.

“I should’ve just left you to rot like everyone else.”

He spat, before pulling 007n7 forward by the collar and shoving him to the ground. 

007n7 broke. tears were streaming down his cheeks, the hacker starting to sob uncontrollably.

"W-wait…” A harsh sob ripped out from his chest. “I-I’m s-sorry, please stop… I don’t… I can still… I can still b-be useful, I swear.” 

His sentences were separated by gasping sobs, his entire frame shaking violently. 007n7 squeezed his eyes shut, anticipating another harsh slap or punch to the face.

His doppelgängers voice rang out in his head. 

‘See? He couldn’t give any less of a shit about you, 007n7. This is what happens when you let people in, they’ll lie to get close to you, take what they want and leave you in the dust when you need it most. Hah! Honestly, how desperate and pathetic do you have to be to—?’

His little speech got cut off  as soon as 007n7 started to distinctly hear a familiar voice calling out to him. It was faint at first, barely even an echo, before the deep voice started calling his name more and more persistently. Their tone was firm but carrying notes of disjointed concern. 007n7 almost swore that he could feel the soft—but faint— pressure of someone's hands on his shoulders. Once 007n7 heard their voice getting louder, he instantly realized who was calling his name.

“Guest… 1337?” He croaked.

“Sev?”

 “Seven…” 

“7n7, wake up!” 

007n7’s eyes snapped open. He gasped, shooting up sharply from where he was laying. Tears were rolling down his cheeks as he panted heavily. His chest heaving from how fast he was taking in breaths, it had gotten so bad that he had started to cough sporadically. The hacker felt a sudden dip in the mattress's weight. He could hear Guest speaking to him, but 007n7’s ears were ringing so loud from how panicked his mind was that he couldn’t understand a thing he was saying. 007n7 wrapped his arms around himself, his entire body shaking as he squeezed and pushed his lithe fingers into his arms just to feel something other than the panic and dread. rough hands started gently tugging at his wrists, trying to keep him from bruising his arms even further. 007n7 let Guest 1337 pull both of his hands away from his arms but still curled into himself tightly. Guest let go and put both of his hands on 007n7’s tense shoulders, squeezing them twice. 007n7 just clutched the soldier’s wrists weakly, not to remove them, but to keep them there. He needed a sign that Guest was there with him, that this was real, that he was real. 

007n7’s breathing didn’t slow but the weight of the man’s warm hands on his body at least gave him a modicum of reassurance. Guest gingerly pulled him closer, guiding 007n7’s forehead to lay against his shoulder. 007n7 didn’t resist. The hacker felt the soft weight and pressure of the soldier’s muscles on his forehead, it felt… grounding. The ringing in his ears began to lessen, finally letting him listen to what Guest 1337 was saying. 

“—Hey, hey, it's okay, I’m here Sev—I’m here. You’re alright, it was just a dream.” 

007n7 hiccuped, his tail curling into itself.

“Please, please I’m s-sorry…  I’m so sorry. F-Fuck, fuck, I…” The hacker sobbed, breath hitching. 

Guest 1337 ran a careful hand through 007n7’s tangled hair, brushing a few strands behind his ear. 

“Shhh, easy…  just Focus on me.  Deep breaths, okay? In… and out,” He soothed.

007n7 slowly tried matching his breathing to Guests, which was a challenge considering how much his lungs burned. It took a bit, but eventually he was able to control his breathing, loosely matching it to the soldier’s steady breaths. 

“That’s it,” He muttered, “you’re doing good, keep going.”

007n7 shifted, moving to wrap both of his trembling arms around the other man and pulling him closer. 007n7 pushed his head into Guest’s broad chest, the steady thumping of the man’s heart putting him at ease. Guest 1337 didn’t stop him, instead reciprocating the embrace and curling around the retired hacker protectively. The veteran stroked his back gently, murmuring quiet reassurances into his ear. 007n7 exhaled slowly, finally calming down a bit.

He had almost forgotten that Guest 1337 was here, in his cabin. A few days after the…  incident, 007n7 had been ill with a mild fever. And since then, Guest had started insisting that he get more sleep due to his condition. He also started visiting 007n7’s cabin a lot more, even staying the night sometimes to ensure that 007n7 actually slept. Guest didn’t seem too keen on letting 007n7 be sleep deprived or not taking proper care of himself so they came up with an unspoken system together. Guest 1337 would come to his cabin to check on him at the end of the rounds, mostly to make sure 7n7 was actually sleeping and eating properly until he no longer had a fever and could adequately take care of himself. Guest 1337 had decided to stay the night with him this time from what 007n7 remembered from earlier. They had talked a little, mostly discussing struggles and certain grievances they had been having when participating in the rounds. 7n7 remembered getting tired before putting on his shark pajamas and curling into bed at 1337’s insistence. Before he had fallen asleep 007n7 recalled hearing Guest shuffling around his room a bit, tidying up a few things here and there. 7n7 was grateful. 007n7 didn’t exactly mind Guest 1337 checking on him like this, he was hesitant at first, yes. But over time 007n7 realized that he was actually doing a lot better in rounds now that he had been getting a regular amount of sleep for once. 

007n7 had probably tried telling the man a million times that he didn’t need to do this for him, that he didn’t have to waste any more of his time on 007n7. Guest hadn’t seemed bothered though, stubborn as usual. 

007n7 was pulled out of his thoughts when he felt Guest pull away slightly to look at him, putting his warm hands back on 007n7’s shoulders. His gaze was soft, like his eyes were looking at him rather than through him. 

“You alright?” 

007n7 shrugged, looking down at his lap instead of making eye contact with the soldier. 

“I… I don’t think I know anymore.” He whispered, his voice almost cracking. 007n7 slowly leaned his head onto the other man’s shoulder again, turning his face a bit and resting his cheek against the fabric of the man’s T-shirt. Guest 1337 squeezed his shoulders again. 

“Another nightmare, huh?  Are you still…  worried about your horns?” 

007n7 was fidgeting with the hem of Guest’s sleeve, rubbing circles on it with his thumb. 1337 let him.

“No,” He sighed, “I just…  I don’t know, I thought after showing them I’d be less insecure about it but— somehow I’m still so scared. I’m not even sure why I’m so afraid in the first place, they all didn’t even react as bad as I thought they would. Fuck, I’m stupid…”

Guest’s grip on him tightened a bit. 

“You’re not stupid, Sev, far from it.” He firmly stated, “I think you’re just overwhelmed, you’ve been through a lot these past couple months, give yourself a break.” 

“I know but,” 007n7 paused awkwardly. “I shouldn’t be this worried about it anymore, not to the point where even my nightmares are trying to torture me with it now..” 

Guest 1337 chuckled. “Hey, I was the same way when we all first arrived here, remember? If anything, I think I was a lot worse. I still can’t forget all the times you had to hold my hand whenever I tried sleeping during a thunderstorm.” 

007n7 sighed again.

“Yeah, but…  you actually had a good reason for it, not to mention the fact that you’re so much better at dealing with your emotions than I am. Whenever I get too stressed out it’s like I just… freeze, like either I end up folding under the pressure of it all or implode from letting it build up inside of me. It’s pathetic.” 

The stitching on the inside of Guest’s sleeve was bumpy and fuzzy, the fabric of his sleeve feeling soft but at the same time worn. 

“You’re human too Sev, horns and tail be damned. We all have days where we get overwhelmed or can’t think clearly, you shouldn’t think less of yourself for that. You’re not pathetic or stupid for feeling negative emotions.” 1337 assured him, rubbing his shoulders gently. 

007n7 huffs.

“Maybe. Still I just…  don't want to feel this way anymore. The boy who made me want to be better and work on myself is gone and nothing makes sense anymore. It’s exhausting and… Sometimes, I just…  wish I could find a way to disappear, it hurts and it won’t stop no matter what I try to do.” He breathed, his tone laced in frustration and bitter exhaustion, tears brimming in his eyes. He didn’t mean to let that last part slip out but at this point he didn’t really care. 

Guest 1337 pulled back again and cupped his cheek carefully, gingerly tilting 007n7’s head up to look at him. 007n7 glanced away from his deep gaze. 

“Hey, look at me,” 1337 whispered softly, patiently waiting for 7n7’s eyes to meet his, “Everything’s going to be okay, you know that right? You just gotta keep moving forward, roll with punches y’know? I’ve been there before, trust me. It’s not easy, sometimes it feels like it’ll never get easier,” 

Guest 1337 wipes off some of the leftover tears on the side of 7n7’s face, it feels nice. 

“But one thing's for sure, you’ll get through it. Life’s a bitch, I know,” 007n7 let out a small laugh, the sides of his lips ticked up a bit. “At times it had felt like everything was trying to screw me over. But sometimes you find little things worth fighting for, worth living for. You just gotta hold onto the hope that things’ll get better. I know that you think things are bad right now, but I believe in you Sev, I believe that you can get through this,” Guest’s eyes softened, the corners of his eyes crinkling. The soldier’s expression was one of fondness. “Take it from me, I know you may not see it but, you’re strong, brave. You've managed to persevere through all this so far, that’s admirable.” 

What…?

007n7’s face was a bit dumbfounded, eyebrows pulled together as he was shocked at what Guest had just said. 1337 thought… he was strong? Not pathetic, not useless, but strong…?

He doesn’t know what to say, no one besides his son has ever called him brave or strong before. The one thing stopping 007n7 from vehemently denying that statement was the absolute confidence and gentle patience in Guest’s eyes. 

The hacker tried looking for any sign or indication that Guest was lying but all he was able to find was the man’s humble smile. 007n7 had always been a very cynical person but somehow Guest was always able to convince him that everything was gonna be alright, funny how that worked. 007n7 wasn’t sure why 1337 cared about him so much but 007n7 had been spending all this time and energy these past few months trying to push Guest away, that he didn’t really have the energy to discourage the soldier anymore. 

007n7 shakily exhaled, leaning into the man’s touch. 

“You really think so?”

“Of course I do, I don’t think there’s any reason why I wouldn’t.” He smiled. 

007n7 glanced away for a second.

“…How do you always manage to see the best in people, 1337?”  He asked, voice quiet and unsure.

Guest cocked his head curiously, raising an eyebrow.

“Just do, costs nothing to have empathy and kindness, at least from my experience. There are times where you gotta look at the bigger picture, y’know. No one’s perfect, I’m certainly not, I mean— have you seen how many times I’ve missed my blocks?” 1337 snickered, his chest shaking a bit. Somehow even his chuckles were heavy and hearty.

He’d never understand how Guest was able to remain so positive, even in hell. 

007n7 hummed in response.

Taking his other hand off of Guest’s sleeve, 007n7 reached up and gently grasped the warm hand cupping his cheek, sleepily nuzzling into the veteran’s calloused palm. Letting out a few purrs in the process while his tail wagged lazily. 

Guest leaned forwards a bit, brushing a stray hair from 007n7’s face. 

“You tired?” 

“Mm, a little.” 007n7 yawns. He frantically thought for a bit before blurting, “Listen— I know you usually sleep on the couch but… do you think you could… maybe… stay with me tonight? Y-You don’t have to if you don’t want to!—” 07n7 shook his hands, eyes wide with panic.

Guest 1337 stopped him before he could ramble any further.

“ ‘Course, I don’t mind. Anything to make you actually get some sleep tonight, heaven knows you need it.”

007n7 let out a sigh of relief, giving Guest a frail smile.

“You’re too good to me, you know that?” 

“Someone's gotta be.” Guest chuckled, giving him a toothy grin while rubbing his thumb against 7n7’s cheek tenderly. 

7n7 huffed, nuzzling into his touch again for a minute before scooting closer to Guest and slowly crawling into his lap. 007n7 put his hands on Guest’s wide shoulders, their chests touching, eyes gazing at each other deeply. The hacker shakily reached a hand up to the man’s face and cradled his right cheek, gently rubbing the thick bandage and coarse skin, looking at it with regretful eyes. Guest 1337 patted his shoulder, like he was trying to reassure him. 007n7 looked away for a second and tilted his head nervously, asking permission, Guest’s eyes told him all he needed to know. 007n7 leaned in closer, wrapping his arms around the man’s waist, before quickly sticking his head into the crook of the man’s neck. Although, 7n7 made sure to be careful and move his head in a way that wouldn’t end with Guest 1337 getting a second cut on his cheek.

Guest 1337 seemed to know what 007n7 was getting at with this action, as he promptly put his arms around the father’s torso and pulled him closer, then carefully laid down and lowered the both of them onto the mattress. Once they were fully laying down, 1337 sat up a little, grabbed the blanket that had been haphazardly thrown at the foot of the bed when 7n7 woke up, and draped it over them both. 007n7 just sighed contently and nuzzled his cheek deeper into the soldier’s neck, utterly fulfilled with feeling the man’s hot breath against his ear. They laid in each other’s arms for who knows how long, needing nothing but the other's warmth. 

After a moment, 007n7 felt Guest cup his cheek and tilt his head up a bit, before softly planting a small kiss on his forehead. 007n7 blinked as he felt his cheeks burn, his throat rumbling even more than before. The killing blow however, was when 1337 cupped his other cheek and pressed their foreheads together briefly. 007n7 felt like he could die happy now. 

“Your fever’s down, that’s good.” He whispered,

007n7 nodded, breathing slowly. The man’s voice vibrating throughout his chest made 007n7 even sleepier. 

“Yeah… guess it is.”

Guest yawned, “Y’know, you mumble a lot in your sleep.” 1337 softly muttered, his eyes visibly tired and half-lidded.

007n7 frowned, “O-Oh.. sorry if I bothered you.” 

“You don’t have to apologize, it’s not a bad thing. Scared me half to death earlier when you were having a nightmare, but I’m not annoyed by it or anything. I think it’s cute.” He chuckled quietly.

“Really now?” 

“Yup.”

007n7 huffed, “Let’s see if you keep saying that once you hear me yelling about being trapped in a well at two in the morning.” 

“Hey, if it makes you feel any better I tend to snore a lot in my sleep! Worst of all, Charlotte ended up having the same problem. So suffice to say, Daisy never ended up getting all that much sleep around the both of us.” He snickered. 

007n7 snorted. “I take it back, go sleep on the couch.” 

“Too late, can’t get rid of me now.” 1337 smiled, taking his hands off of 7n7’s face and hugging the retired-hacker tighter against himself. 

007n7 just giggled, nestling his face deeper into the soldier’s chest. 

“I don’t think I could even if I wanted to, you’re way too stubborn,” 

“Damn right I am, have to be anyway, who else would make sure Chance doesn’t try doing target practice in the cabin.” Guest joked, 

“Maybe so, but don’t get too cocky now 1337, you’re also the one who had a cold for almost three weeks all because you were too stubborn to wear a coat during a storm. Having to drink all that cough syrup could have been avoided if you hadn’t decided to go out into the round in a tank top..”  007n7 chaffed in a teasing tone of voice. 

Guest 1337 leaned in close to his ear and whispered,

“Shhh, we don’t talk about that.” 007n7 could tell that he had a shit eating grin on his face. 

7n7’s tail playfully flicked Guest’s leg before wrapping around it. 

Guest chuckled softly, carefully brushing his fingers through 007n7’s brown hair. 

“I thought you said you couldn’t control your tail, Sev.” He remarked, a smirk still etched on his lips. 

007n7 rolled his eyes,

“I can’t. But it does seem to have a mind of its own, and that mind; seems to think that you’re a jackass.”

1337 huffs, a smug smile still painted on his face. “It does, huh? Then why’s it looped around my leg right now?”

“…No comment…” 7n7 hastily mumbled, his lips stretched into a sly grin. 

Guest just laughed again, patting 007n7’s back affectionately. They both lay embracing each other in comfortable silence, just basking in the other’s warmth. 007n7’s body always felt icy. At one point, Guest had compared it to feeling the cool side of a pillow. But if you asked 007n7, he’d compare it to more of that of a corpse. It made sense, 007n7 did die abandoned in a messy house during the winter with a bullet through his skull, that much was true. It was still odd though, every time he would touch another survivor— be it by handing them something or trying to get their attention— they would always recoil at how cold he was.

Another thing that also probably didn’t help is that 007n7 looked very dead when he slept, but that was always a quirk he had even before he died. Funnily enough, it was something that always creeped his family and friends out, even Guest and C00lkidd had gotten scared by it at one point. He almost chuckled remembering the time Guest had woken him up in a panic once before when he was napping because of how deathly still his body and face was. That was a fun night. 

On the other hand, Guest 1337’s body was always very warm, especially his hands. That too made some amount of sense, Guest 1337 had died in an explosion, of course he was going to be warm. It did make it a bit harder to check for fevers with him however, but Guest’s behavior kinda gave it away most of the time. When 1337 was sick he usually got very grumpy and lethargic, which was pretty unusual for a man who was always friendly and in high spirits.

Elliot always had a hard time with him when he got like that, 007n7 couldn’t blame him. Guest normally never got into any arguments but when he got sick he was as stubborn as a mule when it came to taking medicine. It was like watching an immovable object meet an unstoppable force. 007n7 was usually able to convince him to take the medication by pleading with the soldier, or giving him a death glare; that also worked. 

They had a lot in common when it came to their lack of self-preservation, it seemed. For Guest it was out of stubbornness and his will to protect others, for 007n7 it was because of his self hatred. Ironic.  

007n7 hugged Guest tighter against himself, as if he was an oversized plushie. 007n7’s temple was pressed against Guest’s chest, the soldier’s steady breaths and slow heartbeat were so soothing to him. Guest’s warmth was slowly seeping into him, 007n7’s once cold body now feeling lukewarm. This was bliss. The one thing keeping 007n7 from teetering off the edge, and even if he came close to falling, there was always that strong and steady hand that would pull him up each time. Guest 1337 seemed to love him despite how much of a freak of nature he was, seemed to love all those weird quirks and qualities about him too. 007n7 felt the same way. He loved Guest, stubbornness and all.  

Guest 1337 cleared his throat, pulling 007n7 out of his thoughts. 

“Uh, I know that now might be an awkward time to ask this but, when we get out of here…  you think you’d wanna meet my family once this is all over? No pressure or anything.” Asked the soldier, unusually sheepish. 7n7 mentally noted how Guest 1337 worded it, Not if, when they got out. Strangely, it seemed like all that cocky confidence his voice exuded not too long ago got flushed down the drain somehow—either because he was tired or nervous—7n7 didn’t know. 

7n7 was a bit stunned at that question, he almost wondered if he was still dreaming. No that wasn’t right, all of his “dreams” were usually just horrific nightmares that made him want to end everything, making him have false hope wouldn’t make any sense. He’d run out of the capacity for any sort of naive hope a long time ago. He could feel guest’s heart thumping fast as he anticipated 7n7’s answer, it took a bit for the hacker’s brain to stop short-circuiting but as soon as he processed what the soldier said to him he knew what he wanted to say. The guest had opened his mouth to speak but 007n7 beat him to it.

“I… I’d love to, but…” He paused, shakily inhaling, “are you sure your family would… um,  be okay with me? I’m not sure they’d like me considering my… past. Especially me being an ex-hacker and everything,” he muttered, voice tense and nervous. 

Guest rubs his back, 007n7 could swear that he felt him exhale a bit in relief. 

“I don’t think they’d care about it all that much, to be completely honest. You’ve changed, they’ll see that. Charlotte’s gonna adore you, I can tell you that much. I’m sure she’ll love C00lkidd too, she’s always wanted a younger sibling, begged me and Daisy more times than I can count.” 1337 chuckles a little. “I know Daisy’ll definitely love you. Trust me, I know her like the  back of my hand.” 

007n7 thought he would start crying all over again, he clenched his jaw.

“Do… Do you think so?” 

Guest reached a hand up and gingerly carded his fingers through the other man’s hair again.

“I know so. That’s at least one thing I’m looking forward to. and hey, even if we don’t get out of here any time soon at least I’ll have you.” 

007n7 sniffled a little and curled his body into Guest’s strong arms even more.

“I’d like that..” he murmured.

Guest held him tighter, one hand placed gently on the base of his neck, the other carefully sorting out tangles in his hair. 007n7’s breath almost hitched at the sensation, Guest’s touch was so gentle and warm that it nearly made him melt.

“Then it’s a date.”

This was one of those rare moments where 007n7 cried from happiness rather than his own  misery. The only other time something like this happened was when C00lkidd had called him his  ‘dada’ for the first time after months of calling him mama when he was an infant, barely even 8 months old. This moment couldn’t compare to that one by a long shot but it still felt so… sweet. He hadn’t felt like this in a while, not since him. But Guest was a different person, he made him feel confident, encouraged him. He didn’t try to guilt trip and coerce him into being dragged down into an emotionally draining relationship, never love-bombed him or tried gaslighting him into thinking that he could never be a good person. Instead, he made him feel loved, cared for, never gave up on him despite his worst moments. Guest loved him for him, and he loved Guest for Guest. There was nothing else to it. 

That was one thing he’d try to look forward to then, meeting Guests' family. Even if they never got out of here, that image alone would be one thing giving him some sort of hope besides 1337. The image of C00lkidd and Charlotte playing together and probably bickering about something trivial like most siblings. The hope that after all of this that maybe—just maybe— C00lkidd would have other people who love and cherish him the way 007n7 does. For him to have people besides 007n7 that can give him the affection and attention that he never could when he was too busy working 3-4 jobs to keep food on the table. His son never had many friends, 007n7 thought. 

C00lkidd wouldn’t be alone again, 7n7 would make sure of it, no matter what. 

For now though, 007n7 just stayed tucked into 1337’s warm embrace. He felt much more relaxed now, feeling reassured by the soldier’s warm presence and careful fingers carding through his hair, his eyes getting heavier and heavier as time went by. Guest 1337 seemed to also be growing quite tired, the repeated motions of his hand through 7n7’s hair gradually slowing down. 

Over the course of a few minutes, 007n7 could already hear the man’s breathing start to dull down and deepen unbotheredly, until soft snoring could be heard from his nose. 007n7 had never seen Guest sleep this relaxed before. Whenever the man usually slept alone, his shoulders had always been tense, his eyebrows usually knitted together with his fists clenched somewhat tightly. But now? The man might as well have been sleeping like a baby. 7n7 felt himself smile softly at that. As 007n7 finally let himself be lulled to sleep by the soldier’s warmth and the slow rise and fall of his chest, he lifted his head upward, softly pressing his lips against the man’s chin. The kiss was chaste, quick, barely even really a kiss. But it was real, Guest had felt real, he was real. No dream could ever change that. 

Guest 1337 stirred, but he didn’t wake. The soldier just squeezed the other man a bit tighter, still holding him close. 007n7 nuzzled into him one more time, the stubble on his chin felt itchy as his head brushed against it, before he finally gave in to the exhaustion pulling at his mind. 

Yeah, he was gonna be okay, just for now.

Chapter Text

hiiiii :3 this is some additional art that I wanted to show off for this fic, originally this was planned to be a the second chapter but I got a bit too carried away writing the last one lmao this is mostly concept art and stuff I drew before I ended up writing the first chapter and it's also kinda what inspired the way 007n7's horns work in this fic. (sorry for the bad image quality on some of these I have to use deviant art for this and I hate it)

this one below is the one that started it all and was the main inspiration for 007n7's design and horns here. (ignore guest 1337 this ain't about about him)

this one is concept art of guest 1337, he looks scary but he's actually my babygirl just trust me bro. 

and here's one more for the road! ^^ 

that's all the art I wanna show for now, there's way more but I'm too tired to put it in right now and I think this is enough anyways lmao 

this is the final time I will be updating this fic, there's more to come in the future for this fic but those works will be their own separate things tbh

have a nice day/night, dear reader! now if you'll excuse me, I'm gonna go back to writing old man Yaoi.