𝐍𝐄𝐖 𝐃𝐈𝐌𝐄𝐍𝐒𝐈𝐎𝐍𝐒, k. jacobs¹

Chapter IX

"So I guess I'll have to make myself a discord account, yeah?", I ask Karl as I pull out my laptop. It's not too fancy, but it's not trash either. It's middle-class kind of.

"That would actually be a great idea" he teases me, emphasizing the word great. I sigh at him for not being able to be serious, like, ever. "Yeah, whatever..." I mumble, smiling.

"What was that?" He seems to have noticed my mumbling. My face heats up as I wave it off. "Oh, nothing" I open up discord. "What should my user be?" I ask him, having absolutely no idea what to name myself.

"How about stealing Sapnap's brand?" He proposes, with a hint of childish mischievousness in his voice. "Nope, that's saved for our sister. I want my own brand, thank you very much. My brother is a pain in the ass" I tell him, not wanting to be so cheap that I'd take off my little brother's brand. Nuh-uh. I can create my own. Watch me, nimrods.

"Hey! Don't say that about my fiancée, he's a lovely person. When he isn't killing your pets or threatening your life" Karl adds on. I laugh and he joins in. His view of Sapnap is so different from my own. It is hilarious sometimes how my brother has managed to make such a scary and intimidating look for himself. I shake my head as my laughing dies out.

"What about 'y/user'?" I suddenly ask. Where did that come from? I have no idea.

"Sounds great!" Karl beams through the phone. "Add me, my name is KarlJacobs as always." He continues on. I nod before remembering he can't see me. I flush with embarrassment at my mistake. Thankfully it seems to have gone by unnoticed.

"Okay", I say, fixing my mistake. He doesn't seem to notice the embarrassed tone in my voice. "Great! See you soon".

"Wait, you're leaving me?!" I'm panicking. How was I supposed to do this on my own?

"Yeah, good luck!", and with that, he's gone. 'Bastard'. I grit my teeth, but then relax and let out a crooked smile. I'd get my revenge someday, somehow. Just he wait.

But now to deal with the problem at hand. Trying to understand the wonder called Discord. I fucking hate this app. I groan and finish up my account, finally verifying my email address. The first thing I do is befriend Karl, just like he told me to. This better not be a mistake. Maybe I should've said no. 'Too late now' I sigh.

~~~

Turns out, I'm a fast learner. At this rate, I could become a streamer in a week. Now THAT really would be something. Especially to piss my brother off, just because it's so funny. I smile at the thought, maybe not. I'd never been as passionate as Nick or Karl at it. But I can still play with them for the fun.

We ended up playing among us again, and I got imposter first round with some guy I don't know yet, but the rest of the time I was crewmate. It was all very fun, except one time when Karl murdered me in cold blood. I spammed ghost chat, pissed. I then scolded him the second the round was over. As I said, it was fun.

I got to know certain people a bit better, got to know a few new people, and almost got a heart attack trying to socialize between the rounds. '10/10, would definitely do again' type of thing. Not.

The moment we've said our goodbyes and everyone has ended their streams, I leave the call and close my computer in panic. Deep breaths Y/n, deep breaths. I let out one last breath before standing up from my desk and walking down to the kitchen, looking for something to eat. I have put my phone in my back pocket, not wanting to leave it in my room.

And sure enough, it buzzes when I'm halfway through our cabinet of snacks. I take it out to look who it is. Aha, it's just Karl calling. Then I look back, panicked. On FaceTime. FaceTime?! Is he out of his mind? I can't do FaceTime, not yet. That is a huge step. Or maybe...

I bite my lip, considering the pros and cons of answering his call. I furrow my brows, thinking deeply. Sapnap walks out in the kitchen just then, looking at me funny.

"Why aren't you picking up the phone?" He peeks over my shoulder. "Oh." He walks around me so he is in front of me instead of behind and grabs my shoulders.

"You know you don't have to, right?" He stares into what feels like the deep insecure parts of my soul, and I shiver and nod at him in response. I then let out a shaky breath, looking back down at my phone.

I walk out of the kitchen pressing 'accept call', letting my camera show the ceiling as I walk back to my room, snacks on the other hand. Karl's face takes up my whole screen and he smiles. "HI Y/N," he says very loudly. Then his excitement turns into a puzzled look.

"Why am I only seeing..." he seems to realize why before even finishing the question. I smile weakly even though he can't see my face. "I'm so sorry Y/n I didn't think it through."

Karl POV:

Shit. I've messed up badly. I didn't want her to think I was pressuring her to show me her face yet. Well, only if she wanted to. Oh god, what have I done? I can hear her soft laugh when I quickly apologize for my mistake. Thank god.

Y/N POV:

I let out a shaky laugh. At least he didn't mean to. "It's fine" I reassure him, worried that he'll feel bad.

"I can hang up if you want?" He has a worried look on his face and I feel bad for picking up. "No, no it's fine. I- I think I just have to build up some courage, okay?" I stutter. Why am I stuttering? I never, ever, stutter. What is wrong with me? "Slight warning though, I look like shit" I let out a strained laugh.

"I'm sure you look pretty" he smiles at his phone. He can't see me but I smile back at him either way. I could just not do it and let him think that I'm pretty, but I feel like I'd be letting him down.

"Ok, let me just go to my room and clean up a bit, it's really messy at the moment," I tell him. He hums back and props his phone up, painting his nails. Interesting.

I'm actively stopping myself from hyperventilating, taking deep breaths. It's completely fine, he wouldn't screenshot and leak it, right? No, no he wouldn't. He's too nice for that.

I quickly clean up a quarter of my room before speaking to Karl again. "I'm done" he perks up from his hands at the sound of my voice. He looks genuinely curious and excited. I really don't wanna let him down.

"Here we go I guess" I let out a shaky laugh and take my phone in my hands, pointing it at my face. I smile shyly, scared of his reaction. How did I manage to build up so much tension and nervousness for something otherwise so trivial? Life of the internet I presume.

I look at my screen for Karl's reaction. He looks shocked at first, his lips parted and his eyes widened. Am I just imagining things, or is that blush on his cheeks? 'No' I shake the thought out of my mind. 'Don't be silly Y/n'. Then his face brightens with a wide smile and his eyes are shimmering with joy.

"See? Told you you were pretty" he beams at me. Now it's me who's blushing. Dang, he really had to go there. I grimace before he can notice the growing blush on my face. "Yeah, no, I think you're the pretty one in this friendship," I say truthfully.