These Cages We Build for Ourselves

Chapter 6

Nash's character runs in aimless circles, idly killing centaurs while he waits. He isn't entirely clear on why they're killing these centaurs. There's some kind of conflict going on, but it really seems as though they just wandered into the centaurs' camp and are slaughtering them indiscriminately. It doesn't help that there are friendly centaurs in other areas of the map, and some with their names in yellow text that won't attack you unless you attack them first. Killing or not killing them has zero repercussions either way. It's all a little grim if you think about it too much.

Silence told him he would brb about twenty minutes ago, and then he went idle for a bit before abruptly signing off. So, is he actually coming back, or did something come up? Silence isn't exactly chatty, and while he usually says when he's leaving, Nash wouldn't put it past him to ghost if something more pressing popped up.

Nash isn't all that tired yet, but maybe a run will sort that out better than sitting around on his computer. His cursor hovers over the 'quit' button when suddenly, Silence logs back in.

With a small smile, Nash settles back into his chair. Looks like it's more senseless centaur slaughter after all.

He opens their private chat, ready to ask if Silence wants to keep playing. Not that it's likely to get him anywhere—Silence is more action than words. He'll either stay idle or he'll stride forward and start murdering centaurs, ignoring the question.

This time, however, Silence surprises him by sending a message of his own: Do you have a car?

Nash blinks at the screen, momentarily stunned. A car? He's tried to make conversation before, and Silence shut down any personal questions real quick. But now he wants to know if Nash has a car?

Yeah? Nash types back.

Can you give me a ride? It's an emergency.

Nash's heart rate kicks up. The closest Silence has come to revealing his location is that they both live on the same side of the country, but Nash is already snatching his discarded jeans off the floor as he types a response.

Yeah. Where are you? What's going on?

Nothing dangerous, just got stranded, Silence replies, followed by the address of a diner. Nash recognises the street name. He knows where that is.

Be there in fifteen minutes, Nash fires back before closing the game. He hastily pulls on a shirt and shoes, shouts to Niko that he's heading out, and bolts to his car.

As he starts driving, Nash realises he probably should've asked more questions. What Silence looks like, what actually happened. Maybe his name.

To start with, what the fuck is Silence even doing at a diner this late a night, playing games with Nash? Is that why he's stranded? Did someone ditch him for having his nose buried in a laptop all night?

Or maybe he was at home and fled to the diner. Could this be some kind of domestic situation?

The whole thing makes Nash uneasy. Not scared, but a sick kind of worried. Has something been going on in Silence's life this whole time? Is that why he's so withdrawn? It's all speculation, but the weirdness of the situation screams that something isn't right. Probably something a whole lot more mundane than Nash's usual fare, but sometimes it's the ordinary horrors that hit the hardest. And Silence is only nineteen...

Nash pulls into a brightly lit parking lot, shoulders his way into a diner that smells like coffee and grease, and then stands there and frowns because the place is empty.

At an expectant look from the middle-aged lady behind the counter, Nash approaches.

"Uh, hey," Nash says as he ruffles a hand through his hair. "I'm supposed to meet my friend here?"