"come home" // Corpse Husband

III. 𝚒𝚗 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚑𝚞𝚜𝚑

Corpse's phone dropped to the carpeted floor as he fell flat against his recliner - the only piece of furniture in his living room.

He was used to the stitches in his muscles or the way they'd occasionally contract for hours; but today he had woken up grumpy. This one particular stitch in his back prevented the minuscule amount of sleep he'd get and refused to come undone even upon ingesting his pills, the amount of which was sinister.

Growing frustrated, he slammed his back rod straight against the recliner a couple times. No use.

What's worse was that he could not afford to miss another stream; his ever increasing pile of hospital bills haunting the countertop corner behind him.

With his head twisting left and right in feverish attempts to lessen the pain, Corpse began to feel a familiar burn in his waterline. His lip quivered but he bit it to a stop.

Crying usually resulted in a headache. And he wasn't sure he could handle anymore agony.

He closed his eyes and set his head back, relishing in the only good thing around him - the sound of nothing.

Blowing up online was a bittersweet blessing. For one, it had stripped his mind clear of peace.

Corpse often sought music loud enough to drown his sickening thoughts. But sometimes silence was the only virtue that helped.

Meanwhile, Sage Graves had just finished revamping her pathetic little setup to one of a pro gamer (even though she was still a noob in the gaming world).

Today, she'd be delving into the world of Among Us and all its spacey wonders once more - for the stream she had uploaded a couple days ago had quickly become her most watched.

And, in the words of the internet, it served a major bag alert. And, med school required quite a ton of major bags.

Plus, she was beginning to miss the friends she'd made in such short time. Sykkuno had rented a cozy little property somewhere amidst the softest spots of her heart.

"I suppose this will have to do," she mumbled to herself as she often did. Rooting from a big family where silence was a luxury, Sage had yet to grow used to living in solitude. Though, she was beginning to view the quiet as less of a luxury with each passing day.

It was why she began streaming in the first place. Something about talking to a live audience was better than talking to a dead camera. The difference was minor yet somehow significant.

Her phone buzzed. Tina had given the go.

Sage nearly jumped into her gaming chair. She propped her headphones firmly against her ears in an attempt to block an eerie ringing - for the silence was beginning to sound deafening.

She pressed record.

The game continued rather uneventfully with Tina, Valkyrae, Sykkuno, Toast, Ludwig, Tubbo, Ash and a couple others she wasn't entirely familiar with yet. Unfortunately, the impostor kept getting sussed out and then Ludwig had to leave.

"You know what?" exclaimed Ash, suddenly. "This isn't working. We need to spice things up!"

"Agreed," Toast added in a bored manner.

Ash continued, "And I know just the person who can do that."

Sage's chat near lifeless chat found itself in immediate uproar before the discord call even chimed. And when it did, no one spoke.

Sage took initiative. "Hello?"

"Whaddup, baby."

It had been three minutes since a new game started and the measly words "crewmate" appeared on her screen. Sage sighed as she ran circles around the main cafeteria table.

"That damned downloading task," she said; and her chat agreed that being a crewmate was no fun.

"OH, GOD. OH, JESUS. WHY ARE YOU FOLLOWING ME LIKE THAT?"

The hoarse screams of her favourite little green character got louder and louder upon proximity. He waddled right into the mouth of cafeteria before getting murdered by one in cat ears.

Of course, Corpse's triumph was cut short when he saw Sage's little banana guy standing still beside the emergency button.

Sage's heart was in her throat with newfound excitement, and she milked it longer. "You-you-"

Her lip twitched upwards when he played along. "Sage, I can explain."

"YOU KILLED MY SYKKUNO!"

"No!" He pleaded. "No- wait, your Sykkuno? That's my Sykkuno."

"Oh, now you've done it." She quickly called for an emergency meeting before he could self report.

Everyone jumped to inquire, so she stated loud and clear, "I saw Corpse kill Sykkuno, guys. Let's get him."

The people were surprisingly quiet until Toast chuckled. "Did she just out herself?"

"I think she did," laughed Tina.

"What?" came Sage's innocent voice. "I'm so confused."

"The day Corpse kills Sykkuno will be the day I star in his music video," chimed in Rae.

"Are you kidding me?" She blurted.

Her jaw dropped as everyone began voting and Corpse remained silent until stating, "Vengeance for Sykkuno."

And it was his vote that ejected her small character into space.

She turned to chat when her mic automatically muted. "Can anyone just tell me what the hell happened there."

She was instantly flooded by comments upon comments of Corpse and Sykkuno's tender-hearted friendship.

"Aw, man," Sykkuno spoke from the dead. "We almost had him."

But as defeat faded into view and the couple next games to follow, Sage learned that Corpse's luck was impossible to dry out.