𝐒𝐄𝐂𝐎𝐍𝐃 𝐍𝐀𝐓𝐔𝐑𝐄 | spencer agnew

7. closer

♫  why do i cry - margo guryan

❝ so sad to only spend

one night a week with you ❞

♫  wish you'd ask me - matt maltese

❝ i wish you'd ask me

if i wanna be your baby ❞

--

the return to work after gracie's birthday weekend feels like going back to school after summer break -- it's electric and new connections have been made, though some people are bummed about having to get back to the ol' grind, and some may still be hungover.

not gracie, though. she could not be more pleased about the return to equilibrium. this job, her friends, everything she's worked for, intersects at smosh. this cycle of work and life is exactly how things should be. nothing special, nothing new, no sudden feelings about anything, certainly not spencer. why would she have new feelings about spencer? get it together bitch.

she enters the building and walks to her desk, smiling at her coworkers as she passes them by. she feels on top of the world with an iced coffee in her hand.

usually, she's nervous about people knowing her any deeper than surface level. but today, she's really grateful to have wonderful friends.

like every week before this, she spends her morning combing through footage and making edits for the games channel. and like most every week before this, she calls jamie at lunch, resulting in a subpar conversation and the overwhelming desire to be left alone for the rest of the day. she hates that he knows her deeper than surface level. she hates that he knows her, but she can't come to terms with it.

unlike every week before this, gracie is in a video this afternoon with shayne and amanda. they'll be playing five nights at freddy's: security breach, and she's really excited but really nervous. she doesn't know much about the lore, but she's watched every video that shayne and amanda have done before this, so she gets the gist.

as she heads towards the sound stage, she takes a few deep breaths. videos are easier than streams, she reminds herself. mistakes and awkward moments can be edited out. she gets pumped up as she steps onto set and sees amanda and shayne sitting at the desk with the computer in front of them. her shoulders relax.

they tense up again when she sees spencer behind the camera, beckoning her in. "hey gracie! take a seat next to shayne," he tells her. his eyes follow her as she plops down in the chair next to shayne. she didn't know if it would be weird or not, seeing spencer again, but she's glad he's not letting anything affect how he interacts with her.

"scoot over just a few inches," spencer directs as he peers through the camera. she does as she's told. "yup! right there. looks perfect."

she smiles to herself and leans over to shayne and amanda. "wow, i'm perfect, you guys." she says smugly. they all laugh, creating an air of silliness and anticipation to start the video.

--

the video is going, but definitely not well.

gracie, amanda, and shayne are currently stuck on the section where you have to run away from an evil moon and flip all of the generators to turn the lights on. the level takes place in a play area with lots of twists and turns, and when amanda couldn't handle it anymore, gracie took the wheel.