Corpsekkuno - I'm not going anywhere

Cat ears and Picnic

Now

It was late spring, 25°C and sunny in California. Just a perfect day to meet some friends. Sykkuno was nervous. Not from the meeting itself, they tried to arrange a real-life event off the internet at least once every two months. He was used to the physical presence of his friends, who were not hidden behind the monitor this time. But someone new was supposed to show up today. Not like "new" new, but somebody whom neither Sykkuno nor his other friends had ever seen with their own eyes. It took them months of persuasion before Corpse finally agreed to meet. His conditions were a place separate from the civilization so that no one could recognize him, no photos and a carefully selected group of friends. Sykkuno was so happy that he was one of them.

He was standing in front of the mirror, wondering for at least 10 minutes what to wear. They wanted to go to a secluded place for a picnic, maybe toasting marshmallows over a fire so he wanted something comfortable but at the same time he wanted to look good. Now that he thought about it, he felt like a schoolgirl who wanted to impress her idol. He blushed and finally decided for the deep blue three-quarter pants, not very loose, and a new light gray T-shirt. Then he adjusted his hair to his usual hairstyle, which looked like he had forgotten to comb his hair, but in reality it was much better than the actual morning look. Usually his hair was ruffled like the fur of an angry cat. At least it suited his cat ears, which he pulled out once on the stream. Not that he planned to take them with him. Well...

He was already running late so he quickly grabbed his backpack with the things he had promised to bring and ran to the car. They were supposed to meet in 15 minutes, which he could never do in time, but he didn't want to break the rules or risk an accident, so he drove slowly and carefully, also because he could not concentrate on driving as usual.

He could pretend he wasn't nervous about meeting Corpse, but it wasn't true. They have known each other for almost an year now and they were good friends if he could judge. But meeting him in person was different, so of course he is nervous, it makes sense. He wasn't nearly as much when he met his other friends for the first time, but he knew what they looked like. Corpse was a mystery.

He tried not to imagine what Corpse must look like. Not that he was afraid he would be disappointed, rather it was clear to him that he would be surprised anyway, because he couldn't guess it correctly. Also it didn't matter what Corpse looked like, he is not his friend because of his appearance, not even because of his voice, though he couldn't deny that he could listen to him all day. (Do not tell chat.)

Fortunately, he was soon on the spot, so he could get those thoughts out of his head. They were replaced by thoughts of doing something embarrassing in front of his friend. He finally decided to get out of the car he parked next to Toast's, which was already standing there, and go find his friends. Already on the way to them he noticed something was not right and when he reached the spread blanket at the edge of the forest, he realized why. Corpse was not here, he couldn't even because there was only one car when he arrived and Toast had to pick up only Jack and Valkyrae. Why was he not here? Sykkuno was late so he thought he arrived last.

"Hey guys, how are you? Where is Corpse?" he tried to sound as normal as possible and not look in all directions, as if he expected his friend to come out of the nearby forest at any moment.

"Hi Sykkuno! In fact, we thought he was with you when you were both late. Jack already thought you kept him to yourself." said Rae with a huge grin, who was photographing the landscape in the distance.

"Uh, no why would I do that?" he chuckled and put his stuff down on a blanket. "So should I message him where he is?" he asked as he sat down on one of the pillows wisely brought by one of his friends. Why didn't Corpse come? Did he change his mind about their meeting? He would be sorry, a lot, but he understood that it was not easy for him. They talked about it a bit, even though it wasn't a pleasant topic for Corpse. He wasn't so scared that someone would post his photo on the internet, but rather of meeting the people outside he'd never seen live before. That was a lot outside his comfort zone.

"Sure, we still need to finish food preparation." Toast said as he looked suspiciously at the package of food he had pulled from Jack's bag. He was sus of him even in real life, really. Sykkuno ignored them and focused on his cell phone screen. He scanned his last messages for Corpse where he wished him good night yesterday and then good morning today. He didn't even read them. Did something happen?

He decided not to think about it much and started typing.

Sykkuno: Hi Corpse! No pressure at all but where are you? I'm starting to worry about you. Did you forget our picnic today?

He hesitated for a moment with his finger over the send button, but in the end he decided to go back and change "I'm" to "We're". Then he quickly sent a message before it had time to think about it again and change something else. Surprisingly, it didn't take a minute for a bubble with three dots to appear on the screen.

Corpse: Oh fuck, hey. No I didn't forget, I just fell asleep. Shit sorry, give me one second.

Sykkuno smiled, reading his message calmed him down a little bit. Of course, Corpse fell asleep, he hadn't slept at all from being nervous for the last two days. The fact is, Sykkuno didn't get much sleep either, but he didn't want to tell anyone. Because in what company he was in, it would not be possible without comments.

"He's fine, he just slept until now." He announced to friends.

"No way, Corpse sleeping? Impossible." Both Rae and Jack said almost at once. Sykkuno laughed and shook his head. Everyone knew about Corpse's very regular sleep pattern.

Sykkuno: It is okay, there is no hurry, we will wait for you. :)

Corpse: Remind me if I should have taken something with me? I don't even remember my name right now.

"Hey Rae, he asks if he should take anything with him. Are we missing something?" he turned to his friend, who was in the middle of a comment about him smiling on his phone. She didn't miss a single opportunity to irritate him, but he knew it was just her sense of humor. In fact, she meant only half the things she had ever shouted at him.

"Tell him to bring his ass in the first place," she replied.

"And hurry up or we eat everything before he arrives," added toast which completed the inspection of the food.

Sykkuno: The only thing we miss is you. <3

Corpse: Omw, I'll be there in half an hour. Sorry again.

Sykkuno: Just drive carefully, I'm not going anywhere.

Sykkuno: Oh, I mean We are not going anywhere.

Corpse: Okay, I will try to arrive in one piece when you're waiting for me :))

Great, he manages to embarrass himself before he meets Corpse in person. He'd rather not do anything until his friend showed up.