Little Game - a Ticci Toby x Reader story

Chapter 14

After everyone finished dinner, they went to the living room to watch some TV. Well, I don't join them, obviously. I'm waiting for BEN to leave the kitchen, since I want to ask him something. Some guys are watching me from the TV corner, probably waiting for me to do something or so. I don't know what they expect but I'm not going to sit with them.

Finally, BEN comes walking out of the kitchen, straight towards me. What was he doing, anyways?

"Hey [Name]," he greets. "You look like you were waiting for me. Scared to move around on your own?"

"No, of course not," I say in defense. Well, he might be right. Just a little. "I have a question, might sound weird."

"Bring it on," BEN shrugs.

"Well," I hesitate a second. I think we're on good terms. But I think we are, so I'm not sure. I don't know. "Where is your room?"

BEN raises an eyebrow. "What are you going to do, watch me while I'm sleeping?"

"No, of course not," I sigh. "Just wanting to prevent some struggles I had today."

BEN frowns. "Now I'm really wondering about what your 'struggles' might be."

"I wanted to go to the bathroom," I explain. "But I had no idea where it was and I also didn't know where to find you so I couldn't ask."

"You could've asked someone else," BEN says with the frown still on his face.

"Sure, without risking a knife to my throat?" I remark.

"I don't know," BEN admits. "Fine, I'll show you my room. Ladies are so demanding nowadays," he scoffs, jokingly. "Well follow me then."

Along with BEN, I leave the living room, ignoring the glares of the others are giving me. Or BEN. They seem to be unhappy with the fact that he isn't participating in their game.

I follow the elf boy through the hallway, up the stairs and through the second floor hallway. The moment we walk past my door, I start counting doors, until BEN opens the door to his room. There are two doors between his door and mine. BEN keeps the door open with his foot. "So, you're going to your room, or come in and play some videogames?" he asks. 

I think for a second, before shrugging my shoulders. "Sure, why not? If just watching you play is fine, don't want to embarras myself again." No, I've had enough of that for one day.

"Suit yourself [Name]. I'll show you how a pro plays his videogames," BEN smirks.

"Bring it on, BEN," I say, closing the door and watching how BEN jumps onto his bed and grabs a controller for whatever which device he's gonna use.

I just grab a nearby chair and sit down, waiting for BEN and his game to start up. Soon, the title theme starts playing and BEN presses the start button, beginning his game session.

I don't know the game he's playing, since I don't have much knowledge about games. But it's some kind of first-person shooter game. It's amusing to watch and BEN really is a good gamer. But the life-like sounds of bullets, blades cutting through flesh, screams... cause my mind to wander off. All these sounds. The residents of this mansion probably hear them pretty often, maybe they're even enjoying them. How can you be like that? These in-game sounds already disgust me.

"[Name]! Are you even watching?" BEN yells, waving his arms.

I take a quick glance at the TV. It's a black screen with 'victory' written on it. Triumphant music is playing on the background. I shift my gaze so I'm looking at BEN.

"BEN?" I ask.

"What's it?" he replies, clearly not too happy that I missed his victory.

"Everyone in this mansion... Have they always been like this?"

BEN looks at me for a second, a little confused. "What do you mean?"

"Insane. Murderous. Monsterous."

"Oh," BEN shrugs. "No, most of us were normal humans once, we all have our backstories here."

"Can you tell me yours?" I ask, a little hesitant. Maybe it's a touchy subject, which I can totally imagine.

"Sure," BEN replies, to my surprise. "It's not that special, anyways. I drowned and ended up as a spirit, trapped inside a videogame I used to play, Majora's Mask. Now my look makes sense, huh?"

I nod, and wait for him to continue his story.

"I thought, might as well haunt the one who gets my cartridge to have some fun in the afterlife. I can be pretty sadistic, you know? Well, I had my fun, the kid was scared to death. But that ass destroyed my cartridge, thinking he killed me, so the fun was over. Luckily, I escaped to the internet before he did that, so I wasn't gone. And uh, that's all." He watches me as I remain silent. "Sorry for the lack of sensation," he adds, a bit awkward. He always gets awkward if I remain silent for too long.

"So you're actually dead?" I frown, while toroughly observing BEN. He seems perfectly alive. To me.

"Yeah, most of us are. Now stop staring, will ya?" He turns away from me, grabbing his controller and starting a new game, clearly flustered.

"Can you tell me Toby's backstory?" Somehow, I really want to know what happened to Toby. He's so complicated, and different from the others. One moment he's all nice and so, but the next moment, he goes completely psycho, only to look broken afterwards. Unlike the others, who are always mean and dangerous. For some reason, I just want to understand him.

"No, I can't," BEN replies without looking up from his game. "That's private. He'll tell you if he wants to, that's up to him."

I understand, but I'm still disappointed. Just going to Toby and ask it out of the blue isn't a good idea so that won't work.

"I ca tell you he has multiple disorders, making it hard to deal with him sometimes," BEN says.

Yeah, he sure is hard to deal with, you can say that again.

"Are you guys friends?" I ask.

BEN waits a few seconds before anwering. "Yeah, we are."

"Won't you be mad if I told you I don't trust your friend?"

"No, I don't always trust him, either," BEN admits. I look up at him. Before I can say anything, he cuts me off. "Friendship is a complicated thing here, [Name]," he says.

I nod, not completely understanding what he means by that, while looking how he kills off enemies on his TV screen.

"You'll find out what I mean soon enough."