D0NT H0LD IT AGAINST US - PROXIES x GN! READER

009

You, Tim, Toby, and Skully were all in a storage room in the basement of the mansion. The room stores weapons, masks, and useful tools. You were looking at the wide selection of masks, trying to decide which one called out to you the most. There were a few plain white ones, like the type Tim and Skully wore but without the black paint, and a few ones with stuff already drawn on them. There were other types of masks, too, like ones similar to that of Hoodie's and other types of mask. Gas masks, plague doctor masks, surgical masks, N95 masks, and just a wide selection in general. You rummaged through all of them, debating which one you thought fit you the most. The others gave you their input as you narrowed down your selection one by one.

"You, you should be ori- original and go for something like the, like the gas mask." Toby suggested, holding said gas mask up by its strap. Tim shook his head in disagreement.

"That's such a bulky mask, though." Tim counter-argued. "It may be hard to breathe in, too, which would make any physical activity hard." He held up one of the blank white masks. "These are lightweight and customizable. Just get one with a mouth hole, and you'll be fine." He suggested. Toby shoved the gas mask in your hands.

"Try th-this on, see if it's hard to, hard to breathe in." He told you, standing expectantly. You did as he asked, gently pulling the gas mask onto your head and fixing it. Taking a few deep breaths, it was pretty hard to breathe in. Looking at yourself in the mirror across from you on the wall, it did make you look pretty cool. You pulled it off, shaking your head. It was too hard to breathe comfortably in.

"Told you." Tim rolled his eyes. Toby pouted and put the mask with the rest of the ones you had rejected. Masky was about to offer you the blank white one to try on when Skully reached out, handing you a different gas mask. This one wasn't the real deal like the one you had just tried on, it was lighter and was lacking an actual filter. It was only the mouth part of the gas mask, black, with gold spikes and chains running along it. In the center of the mask there was a gold cross.

"Try on." Skully finger spelled at you. You shrugged and put it on, adjusting the strap on your head so that it was secured and comfortable. You looked at yourself in the mirror, and felt a sense of euphoria wash over you. This mask was much easier to breathe, and see, in too.

"Wow." Tim mumbled under his breath more to himself than to anyone. Skully put his hands on his hips, standing proudly. Toby gawked a bit.

"Th-that is so, so fucking cool!" Toby ticced a bit before grabbing your shoulder, pulling you into him. "Aw, man, you- you gotta pick this one!" He said excitedly.

"Yeah, [Name], that is really cool." Tim smiled at you in the mirror. "Good idea, Skully." He patted Skully on the back. Skully wrapped their arm under Tim's outstretched one and gave him a side-hug. You inspected yourself in the mirror a little closer, moving your head at different angles to fully get a feel for the mask. It looked amazing on you, you loved it.

"This is definitely the one." You nodded, satisfied with your choice.

"We have to show, sh-show Kate and Hoodie! They're gonna... gonna love this!" Toby declared, grabbing you by the arm and pulling you with him out of the room. You laughed and let him pull you forward, Masky and Skully following behind you. Luckily, Kate and Brian weren't too far, being on the ground floor chilling in the living room with a few of the others. Toby, as unhesitant as ever, pulled you towards them. You felt that familiar anxiety bubble up in your stomach as the unfamiliar people stared at you, curious. "Kate! Hoodie!" Toby cheered.

"Hey, guys. That's a cool fucking mask, [Name]!" Kate clapped her hands together, standing off the couch to approach you to get a better look. Now that she was closer, you could see the crack down her mask from when you punched her. It was barely visible, probably glued back together now. "That fits you really well!" She smiled under her mask. Brian nodded from where he was relaxing on the couch.

"That's fucking badass, man!" Brian, who was wearing his mask now, leaned forward and rested his arms on his knees. "I wish my mask was half as cool as that."

"Is this the new proxy?" A man in a dark blue mask with black streaks running down from the eyeholes. His voice was deep, and very mature sounding. His voice was calming, but he gave off unsettling vibes. He was wearing a loose black hoodie, the sleeves of which were pulled up to his elbows. His forearms were covered in bandages, his nails painted with chipping, black nail polish. He was wearing loose black jeans and combat boots. His hair was a dark, reddish-brown. His skin, what you could see of it anyways, looked to be an inhumane grey color.

Kate turned to reply to the man. "Yep, this is [Name]. They'll be introduced officially later today." She said, retreating back to her place on the couch. You stood there, kind of awkwardly. The man with the blue mask hummed.

"I'm Jack." He said to you, "Nice to meet you, [Name]." You took a deep breath before responding.

"Nice to meet you, too." You gave a courteous downwards head nod. An awkward silence was about to descend upon the group again when Ben's voice called out to you.

"Yo, [Name]! What's up, man?" Ben hopped over the couch, nearly hitting Jack in the head as he did so.

"Watch where you're going!" Jack huffed in Ben's general direction.

"[Name], you know Ben?" Masky asked, moving to sit besides Hoodie on the couch. You shrugged and nodded, not really wanting to reveal just why you knew Ben.

"Of course we know each other, nearly scared this guy outta his damn skin when I started crawling through Skully's laptop to say hi." Ben snorted, throwing his arm around his shoulders. As he said this, Toby and Skully went to sit down on a second couch beside the first next to two men you didn't recognize. They didn't say anything, instead just staring at you with hunger in their eyes.

One of the men was wearing a grey beanie and a long black trench coat that had to be too hot for the summer heat outside. He had dark, grey skin and black locs with gold jewelry that matched his glowing yellow eyes. Under the trench coat he had a lighter grey shirt on, paired with loose black jeans and heavy black combat boots. How he wasn't dying in the heat was above you. His eyes were deeply unsettling, it felt like they were aware of every insecurity and trauma you had ever had.

The other man had light, brown hair and striking green eyes. He had a worn, black and white striped scarf that he clutched tightly in his hands. He was wearing a dark brown jacket with a green shirt underneath. He had on a pair of lighter brown pants with black sneakers. His face was scarred, most notably across his nose. His eyes never left you, but it seemed more anxious than the other man's intense gaze.

You shifted on your feet uncomfortably, laughing nervously. "Yeah, that really freaked me the fuck out." You added, trying to ignore the two random men staring at you. You tried to remember what Skully told you, forcing yourself to relax slightly.

"Ben wouldn't know the meaning of boundaries if they came and drowned him." Jack scoffed, crossing his arms over his chest. A look of genuine hurt crossed over Ben's face for a second, but he rebounded quickly.

"You wouldn't know the meaning of seeing the consequences of your actions if you had both of your eyes still." Ben rolled his eyes and released you from his grip. He sat down on the couch next to the brown-haired fellow, and you moved to sit at the very end of the couch opposite of the yellow-eyed man. His eyes were glowing. You wondered what could've made him like that, or if he was born that way.

"You're both idiots." The brown-haired man chuckled airily. "Can't you two ever get along?"

"I'm scared of emo people." Ben gave an exaggerated frown, pouting up at the man.

"You're just upset that he's dating your best friend." The yellow-eyed man spoke, his voice sounding hollow and echoey. Ben elbowed the guy in the side.

"Fuck off, Puppeteer." he huffed. Puppeteer just shrugged, seeming wholly unaffected by the shorter man's anger. "Always talkin' shit. Blah blah blah. Go kill yourself again." Ben rolled his eyes. Puppeteer growled, deep in his throat, but didn't continue arguing with him. You sat there awkwardly, unsure of what to do or say as everyone else engaged in a conversation surrounding things you didn't understand, or about people who you didn't know. Skully, bless their heart, turned to you and decided to teach you some more sign while everyone else was distracted in conversation with one another. He signed something at you, slowly so that you could understand it.

"This place is chaos."