It was weird falling for someone she'd never seen before, but Van accepted Corpse was uncomfortable with a face reveal and agreed to keep their flirting as to not draw any attention to Van, Corpse using the excuse that she'd probably get stalkers trying to figure out who he was.
In reality, he was just afraid she — along with everyone else — had romanticized the idea of his voice belonging to some devastatingly handsome man. He'd never admit to her that he was scared he'd never live up to anyone's expectations; even Van's, which is why he never wanted to feel like he was tying her down by having her settle for him.
"No, I can clear Sykkuno," Van defended the other Imposter against Charlie's accusation, "I watched him do Med Bay Scan."
"Okay," Felix spoke up, "That's the third time Van and Sykkuno vouched for each other this game. Either they got something going on behind closed doors or they're both Imposter."
Corpse's face dropped, not believing Felix just insinuated some flirting between the two. With a rumor like that on Felix's channel, it would spread throughout the community like wildfire.
"Which is it?" Poki laughed.
"I mean, I'm not Imposter..." Van said as Sykkuno remained nervously silent, both of them trying to figure out how to convince everyone they weren't the killers whilst ignoring the other accusation.
"Oh, okay, Bonnie and Clyde," Felix teased, "Say goodbye to your boyfriend, Van."
Corpse felt his heart sink while everyone laughed as they all voted out Sykkuno. The game was pretty much over as an Emergency Meeting was called, and Van was ejected shortly thereafter.
"You okay?" Van asked Corpse during their nightly phone call, noticing he'd been quiet most of the games.
"I don't know," he responded distantly.
Corpse was fairly aggravated that everyone continued to pick on Van and Sykkuno throughout the next games, and, not once, did Van try to defend that there was nothing going on between them. He wasn't sure how many times the words 'boyfriend' and 'girlfriend' were thrown around, but it was enough to sicken him.
"Just a bad mental day?" Van asked gently.
She was accustomed to Corpse being quiet sometimes and came to find he just needed time to get away from social settings, even if it just meant stepping away from his computer. And, that's sort of how their friendship came to be.
It was one night when she realized Corpse wasn't being his usual self in the game. She sent him a private message after the game, concerned that he seemed off, only to find he'd been dealing with anxiety the entire day. They talked for hours and, after that, never failed to message the other as soon as the gaming sessions were over. He'd never felt so comfortable talking with someone before. Messages after games turned into flirty texts during which then turned into falling asleep on the phone with each other.
Corpse never mentioned how uncomfortable he'd been with Felix poking fun at Van and Sykkuno, but he knew Van was his, and he was reminded of this every night. She could have been talking to anyone else, but there she was on the phone with him while watching YouTube videos, cleaning, eating — hell, even brushing her teeth. She refused to let Corpse feel alone, and he'd never be able to convey to her how much he appreciated it.
"Hey, Van!" Felix called out over everyone talking in the Discord call a week later as they all caught up with each other before their gaming session, "Did you and your boyfriend see my new video?"
"No, I haven't yet," Van replied with an eye roll as they all went to Felix's channel. Everyone began cackling with laughter as Van's mouth dropped at the title.
