It's Like the Grail War But In Space

"Ugh, seriously?! It's not that exciting!" Waver snapped at Rider, looking up from his phone with a disdainful glare. But Rider didn't answer, he was too immersed in the game. It was almost comical, seeing such a large and rugged man hunched over a laptop that fit into his hands as easily as a phone fit into Waver's. But of course, Waver was not in the slightest bit amused. Instead, he only rolled his eyes and sighed.

"How you dragged me into this, I'll never know," he growled as he watched his little dark green avatar run across the screen.

"Everyone needs a break every now and then!" Rider replied cheerfully, his red avatar crossing paths with Waver's.

"But you seriously couldn't have picked anything more intellectual?" Waver demanded. To someone as dignified and mature as him, being forced to play a childish internet fad-game like Among Us was incredibly demeaning and humiliating. But as Rider would remind him...

"You did promise that I could pick what we did tonight."

"I know that," Waver snapped impatiently. "I just wish the so-called "King of Conquerors" had better taste in games!"

"Well, what did you have in mind?" Rider asked calmly, completely unbothered by Waver's growing temper.

"I don't know!" Waver seemed offended and outraged that Rider had turned the question back around on him. "Just... couldn't you have picked anything more exciting or cool or entertaining? Or was something this childish, lame and underdeveloped the best you could come up with?"

"Now, now, my boy," Rider began, his patronizing tone coming out in full. Waver groaned in annoyance. "You of all people should know that it's not what's on the inside that counts."

"What does that have to do with anything? Waver pouted.

"This game, although it is very low-budget, is far more than what you think it is," Rider replied calmly. "There is a sense of danger and adventure, a race against the clock and your fellow crewmates, since you can never be sure which of them is the Imposter. You do have to be intelligent for this game. It's like the Grail War, but in space!" he decided with a proud smile.

"The Grail Wa- What?!" Waver was in total disbelief. "This is nothing like the-"

"Because only one person can emerge victorious, but you need your wits about you at all times if you want to win!"

"Just because there's one similarity doesn't mean-"

"You need the same sort of deductive reasoning in this game that you so brilliantly displayed when you found Caster's lair!" Rider continued cheerfully, and this remark finally rendered Waver mute. As annoyed as he'd been, the moment Rider brought that incident up again and began complimenting him for it, Waver suddenly found himself unable to speak.

Caught off guard by the compliment, he could only sputter angrily and hope he wasn't as red as Rider's avatar. Although he'd never admit it, Rider's compliments always filled him with pride. But that pride was always coupled with embarrassment, and Waver didn't do "embarrassed". But even though he said nothing, Rider was still able to tell that his kind words had flustered the boy, and he smiled warmly in reply. It saddened him to think that Waver struggled so much with compliments. Maybe someday, the boy would feel more comfortable with them. But until then...?

"Aha! And what do we have here?" Rider asked, sounding eerily cheerful. A second later, an alarm sounded off.

DEAD BODY REPORTED

It was White.

"Where? Where? Where?" the chat quickly filled up with the obligatory demand.

"Asteroids," Rider typed back. "Where was everyone else?" The chat quickly blew up, both with alibis and accusations of a self-report.