Ready Player: START (Parzival x Reader)

Castle on the Hill

"You seem antsy," you noted as you turned away from your work to look at Wade.

"Do I?" he muttered back distractedly.

You rolled your eyes, "yeah. You're not being subtle about it." You noticed that he was doing anything but sitting still. He was fidgeting in his seat (more than usual, you could see it, and you were looking at him through a webcam), trying to complete the homework as fast as possible, and you caught him smiling every now and then as he seemed to be lost in thoughts. You snorted, "got a date after this or something?"

"What?" he froze in shock and looked at you with wide eyes.

"I'm taking that as a no," you replied slowly.

"Uh, sorry, am I distracting?" he apologized after a moment.

You shook your head, "I was just curious as to what's got you so excited."

"Something crazy happened in the OASIS yesterday," he told you excitedly.

"Oh?" you raised an eyebrow, you could guess what he was talking about, "the key right?" you questioned.

"Yeah!" his eyes were alight with a new emotion you had never seen before, "it's so cool! After five years something happens!"

You smiled at his enthusiasm, "yeah, well, at the rate we're going through this homework, nothing will happen with this for five years." You joked.

He laughed, "let's get this done."

You and Wade hurried to finish the homework, and within no time, it was complete. "Thanks so much for working with me on this," Wade told you gratefully and you smiled in return, "I'd never be able to figure this out without you."

You grinned, "same to you."

"Okay, I've got to split!" Wade waved at you, "there's a lot of stuff happening in the OASIS and I have to be there!"

You laughed as he looked like a child in a candy store, "have fun!" you waved and the call ended. You jumped up from your chair and ran to your gear. You were also ecstatic to get back into the OASIS, but it's not like you could share that. Wade didn't know you were invested in the OASIS, and he definitely didn't know who you were in the OASIS. If you started talking about the key and the clue, well, it'd be obvious that you were either Parzival or (g/t). And, as much as you trusted and loved Wade, you still couldn't bring yourself to reveal the large secret that you hid for so long.

You quickly slid on the harness and logged into the game, practically bouncing with excitement, however, when you got there, four new names were on the board. Art3mis, Aech, Daito, and Sho. You couldn't be too upset though, 75% friend rate. You opened up your menu and located Parzival before teleporting to him.

"Woah," he jumped when you appeared in a flash of light, "what's up?" he was in Aech's warehouse, and Aech was working on something not too far away.

"Did you tell her?" you questioned without a smile.

"No, of course not!" he hastily replied, "she was in the back too, she saw us go backwards." You frowned, he was right of course.

"So what'd you think?" you questioned and sat roughly in a chair, "a creator who hates his own creation."

"A hidden key, a leap not taken," Parzival continued the clue and sat down in a rolling chair next to you, albeit, a lot gentler.

"Retrace your steps, escape your past."

"And the key of jade will be yours at last." Parzival frowned, "escape your past, what part of your past are you trying to escape, Halliday?"

"I guess it's back to the journals?" you questioned lazily, "and for the love of all things Halliday, let's not go to gregarious games, for once." You pleaded. You were so done with that scene, even though it was the answer to get you the key, you were so tired of seeing the scene over, and over, and over.