IDV - A Coin's Two Sides - Freddy x Norton

2- Trustworthiness

Twice a week, a practice game will take place. Nobody could sign up to partake in matches, nor could they refuse to participate. Matches are chosen randomly. Survivors are allowed to choose someone to be in a pair with if so desired. That means that if one of them is randomly selected for a match, both of them will have to join it. You can make or disband pairs whenever you want, except for when the matches are being decided. Both parties must agree for a pair to be created, however if just one of them wants to quit, then the pair will be broken. No more than 2 survivors may team up.
Freddy has never paired up with someone. It just means you're more likely to be thrown into a match.
However, not being in a pair doesn't mean you'll never be matched.

Freddy sighed frustratedly as he made his way to the creepy dining table that everyone sat at before a match started. He had been chosen for a match today. How wonderful. Time to not be traumatized at all by people chasing you with swords or axes or other sharp objects! Even the least scary weapon, a shark toy, belonged to a hunter that Freddy wanted to avoid going against the most...
The lawyer sat down at the table. One other person was there. It was the priestess, who seemed to be praying over her food.
Survivors were allowed a meal before starting the match. Not everyone trusted it, or perhaps some felt they wouldn't be able to run around on a full stomach. Either way, whether or not the food was actually eaten depended on the survivors who were present. Freddy never ate much of the food, but only didn't eat some if he wasn't hungry at all.
He was never with the priestess much, so he wasn't sure if she was going to eat. She hadn't pushed her food away, so he assumed she might actually eat some.
A third survivor walked into the room. A timid guy who was only known for his strange luck. Though honestly, how lucky could he be to have gotten another match this week?
That's what he seemed to be muttering to himself as he sat down at the table. When he turned to look at the others, he thought he saw a ghost and yelped. The priestess simply nodded at the ghost. Freddy hadn't noticed anything.
Finally, the last participant in this match arrived. Trying not to bring attention to himself, the prospector sat down.
Now that everyone was present, including the unknown hunter behind the curtain, they had ten minutes to relax, eat, or plan before the match started.
The priestess seemed to have finished her prayer once everyone was there, and began to eat her food. Freddy sighed and started eating small amounts of his own.
"G-Good luck everyone..?" The lucky guy spoke up.
The priestess nodded. "Good luck." She turned to the curtain. "You too hunter."
Nobody really seemed to like that. Why would someone say that? Why would you wish luck to the hunter?
"What location are we going to?" Freddy asked, flipping through the different maps he had. It would suck to bring the wrong one.
"Moonlit River Park," the lucky guy said, then sighed in relief. "I guess it's nice to have you here, Fiona!"
Ah yes, that was the priestess's name, Freddy thought as he grabbed the correct map. Not many people really talked to her personally because nobody understood her god.
"Yes, I really am blessed to have these portals." Fiona slowly clapped her hands together.
Freddy cleared his throat. "Well then, I'm positive that we will do great." He often gave small speeches before matches to calm his teammates. He learned that the rocket chairs actually launch slower if you aren't scared. It's difficult to control your fear however, so the best he can do is convince everyone in the best way he can that there is nothing to worry about with him around, so the timer will slow down a bit. As a lawyer, he is very good at sounding like he knows what he's talking about.
After everyone seemed as convinced as he could make them, he continued sitting in his chair waiting. Their time was almost up, and they would be forced into the amusement park. Freddy noticed that the prospector hadn't said a word the whole time, and simply sat there polishing his strange magnets. He seemed to have listened to the speech, at least. Could this guy get any more mysterious?

Suddenly, Freddy found himself in the Moonlit River Park. It was always strange how they randomly appeared in these empty locations, but Freddy had gotten used to it. This manor was VERY strange.
In order to escape, they have to decode ciphers, so Freddy got to work on one that happened to be nearby. He had no idea where anyone else was, but he could easily find out thanks to his map. However he was very focused on decoding.
So when it turned out he was discovered first, he was very upset. He liked matches where he never got chased...
The Geisha dashed towards him so fast he barely had time to be disappointed. An immediate hit. The blade on the fan hurt Freddy very much, but he was more focused on getting away. He was actually one of the first people invited to the manor, which meant he had more experience than others, which allowed him to run away faster after that hit he took.
Normally for Geisha, she can catch up easily thanks to her dashing abilities. Unfortunately, she had just dashed and needed a small break from dashing before she could do it again, and Freddy's skills as a veteran in this game let him run out of her sight easily.
Trails are easy to follow though, so she didn't give up and continued going after the lawyer.
Why is there some sort of ghoul in this manor... Freddy thought to himself. He really didn't want to get put into a rocket chair, but it's hard to outrun ladies with supernatural abilities. He knew that staring at the geisha prevented her from using her scary dash, so he was able to keep it up until one cipher had been finished.
Unfortunately, as soon as that cipher finished, Freddy was hit once again. The geisha wiped her blade but quickly wrapped balloons onto the lawyer and carried him to a nearby chair.
Would anyone rescue him? Usually this early into matches, everyone is less scared and tends to rescue others. But you can never be too sure... especially when the hunter waits at the chair like this. It's creepy having this evil lady sit and watch you as you're about to launch into the sky. Well, there are creepier hunters that he could be stuck with. Currently the geisha was in a prettier form than the one she attacks in.
A second cipher got finished, and shortly after, Fiona ran to the rescue. Using her portals she managed to get Freddy out of the chair and get him to safety. The geisha had to chase Fiona, to Freddy's relief. He cared more about himself than the priestess, and apparently she is good at staying alive, especially in this park.
Once Freddy was sure he was completely away from the hunter, he pulled out his map. He didn't like being injured, and the lucky guy had already expressed concerns in the past about others opening chests. How selfish, does he really think his luck works THAT good? Nonetheless, that guy doesn't have any items to work with other than what he finds in chests, and teammates healing each other doesn't take up resources. So he looked at his map to find the nearest person to maybe heal him.
The map showed that someone was decoding somewhat nearby. Close and not particularly busy? Perfect! Freddy headed in the direction of the person on the map.
When he arrived, he saw it was none other than the prospector. He seemed pretty focused on the cipher machine.
Freddy stared for a bit, feeling awkward, but got quickly fed up with the pain and cleared his throat to get the prospector's attention. For whatever reason, this made the prospector experience a failure with the cipher machine, causing him to flinch away from it and look at Freddy.
Freddy was tempted to complain about how the hunter might've heard the noise, but then the prospector actually spoke. "You're injured."
That was the first thing Freddy had heard the man say. He wasn't sure what sort of voice he expected, but the one he heard was deep and raspy.
"Yes, I am." Freddy confirmed.
"...You want to be healed. Okay." The prospector began to treat Freddy's wounds. To the lawyer's surprise, the prospector had such strength that healing actually went by faster than usual.
"Wow, thanks." Freddy felt embarrassed for saying wow and tried to pretend he didn't. The prospector didn't seem to care. He went straight back to the cipher.
Freddy examined the prospector's decoding. While the man always seemed somber, he appeared almost frustrated at the cipher machine. Upon longer inspection, Freddy noticed that the magnets seemed to be messing with the machine, causing the prospector to have to focus harder to make sure nothing went wrong.
Freddy arriving must have broke his focus at the wrong time. Huh. He didn't want to lose progress, so he went to another side of the cipher machine to help decode and activate his lawyer skills.
Freddy has a certain charm that can inspire others (yes, it's a charm with words, not looks...) and he uses it to improve his teammates' performance. When somebody is nearby, Freddy just has to give a small inspiring message with his silver tongue, and just like that, people will work faster while he's around.
Norton seemed uninterested, but Freddy did notice an improvement after he gave his inspiration. Freddy became frustrated with the cipher machine however, thanks to those magnets... luckily, they managed to finish the cipher machine rather swiftly.
The two men ended up awkwardly parting ways without a word. Freddy wasn't quite sure where he should go. He noticed the dungeon hatch and kept its location in mind, just in case. In the meantime, he had to find a cipher.
After a fourth cipher got finished, Fiona was finally knocked down. Freddy was relieved that happened on the complete opposite side of the map. He was not relieved, however, that Fiona was chaired in the basement. The lucky guy seemed to have claimed the role of rescuer and headed over to her.
Unfortunately, he got knocked down before he could even get Fiona out of the chair. The geisha placed the lucky guy into another chair in the basement, and the rocket chair was soon to blast away.
At this situation, Freddy had no faith. Sure, only one cipher remained, but none were near completion, and he doubted a rescue would go well. Freddy decided to head over to the dungeon hatch he saw earlier and wait for the prospector to inevitably fail a rescue and get sent back to the manor with the others.
However, after Fiona was gone and the lucky guy was almost gone, the prospector arrived at the dungeon as well.
The two stared at each other as the lucky guy got sent back to the manor.
"...What are you doing here?" Freddy asked.
"I could ask you the same thing." The prospector said.
"...I thought you were being chased." Freddy lied.
"You have that weird map." The prospector pointed to the map. "Doesn't that tell you where I am?"
"What, so did you think I was being chased?" Freddy questioned.
"Yes." The prospector answered.
"Well why didn't you go to a cipher?" Freddy asked.
"I could ask you the same thing." The prospector said back.
The conversation was getting repetitive. They both knew the answers.
"Okay, I think we both know what's going on here." Freddy sighed. "What now? We can't share the dungeon."
They both suddenly felt the fear of a hunter approaching. They had to think fast.
The prospector tossed a magnet into the air and caught it, then looked behind himself. "I'll go distract the hunter... you..." he looked at Freddy uncertainly. "You go decode. I won't bring the hunter to you. Trust me, and I'll trust you not to sacrifice me."
Freddy blinked. "You'll distract the hunter? You think you can last?!"
Norton started walking in the direction of the hunter. "Trust me, I'm pretty good at this. Now can I trust you to decode, or are all of those speeches you gave going to stay a lie?"
Freddy was left speechless. Before he realized how convinced he was, the lawyer ran to the nearest cipher he could find. Luckily the geisha didn't see him, and began to chase the prospector.
Freddy arrived at the cipher and started decoding. Now that he wasn't running, he started to sort out his thoughts. Why did he agree to this? Why wasn't he hiding back at the dungeon? Would the prospector betray him?
Something was oddly convincing about the prospector's words. But how? He now knew that the prospector would leave everyone else to suffer, just like Freddy would. Did the prospector also have the same convincing skills Freddy did? He would be able to see through those, right?
...The prospector DID seem really inspiring in those moments. Maybe Freddy really was susceptible to manipulation by mood? That didn't sound like himself though. Maybe it was a physical thing. Freddy had already established that the prospector was strong... but that only makes him feel assured that he can contain the hunter, not that he won't betray him...
Maybe... just maybe... he wanted to believe in... himself? Ridiculous. Freddy didn't have any troubles with how he lied to and manipulated others for his own gain. He doesn't want to be a better person, why would he try to?
Yet here he was, risking everything because some guy called him out and still trusted him. A guy who, don't forget, was also about to sacrifice everyone. The two of them were the same, and despite not trusting themselves, they still trusted each other. Why?
Why did the both of them want to trust themselves?

They both made it out.
Technically, they had to go back to the manor anyways, but since it was just a practice match, it counted as escaping anyways. This gave them a tie. Not a win, but better than what they thought they would get.

The two escapees didn't talk to each other after the match finished. They simply went to their own rooms.
Freddy was lost in his thoughts about that match. So, the mysterious gloomy prospector is not only a fellow money grabber, but also someone who would sacrifice others to save himself. Just like Freddy. The only thing is that the prospector didn't seem to be a liar or a manipulator, simply because he kept to himself far too much to possibly tell anyone any lies.
How ridiculous is it that Freddy still didn't even know the man's name? It wasn't necessary, but he was starting to get more curious about the prospector. Those magnets of his seemed valuable... he was strong and a reliable container, but the word reliable only describes him for so long... puts himself before others and likes money. He's got his priorities straight, Freddy thought.
Freddy knows the prospector was about to sacrifice him in that match, yet Freddy still ended up with a large amount of respect towards him. Is it because he ended up not betraying him?
Freddy ended up not betraying the prospector either, so he wasn't sure how to feel about it. It was so out of character for him that he wondered if perhaps the prospector had an out of character moment back then as well.
He wasn't sure what he would do if he was in another match with the prospector. Could he trust him? Would the prospector trust him? Was that compromise a one time thing? It was hard to tell.
All Freddy could do was end the day and move on to the next one.

Maybe then he could learn more about the guy who he liked a little too much for someone who saw through his lies.