Killer Queen

10

Although it had only been a week, my apartment looked as if it had been vacant for months. The closed shutters, minimalistic decorations, even the scent seemed foreign, yet familiar.

My first instinct was to open a window, letting the salty ocean scented air fill the rooms as I unpacked. Many reasons led me to Oceanside's coastal town, the scented ocean breeze being one of them.

I had messaged both Felix and Marzia and my agent, informing of my safe arrival, and hesitated about messaging Corpse, like he had asked me to.

Even if there was a part of me that believed that there was no real intention of knowing of my well being, I still hit the send button.

Mia
I'm alive

Laying down on my couch, I expectantly read the sent text repeatedly, awaiting for its answer. Right before I had given up hope for a reply, a text bubble appeared under his name.

Corpse
:)
Did you have a nice travel?

Mia
Yeah , I even drank some wine .
How was your nap?

Corpse
Decent enough.
Red or white ?

Mia
Rosé, but  it depends on the occasion.
You?

Corpse
I'll take red anytime.

Mia
Hmm... nice choice.

Corpse
Didn't take you for a wine lover

Mia
I'm not.. I just drink it and sometimes enjoy it

Corpse
That's knowledgeable enough to me

 
Mia
Then yes , you can call me a wine specialist.

Corpse
We should hangout later.

Mia
How so?

Corpse
You owe me those games.

Mia
I do...

Corpse
We can play together. Just us two, no streaming.

Mia
That sounds nice. We'd be playing with strangers? 

Corpse
Yeah, we'll cheat them.

And so, later that day, Corpse called me again. Only this time we weren't so distant apart.

"Hello?" I answering, self-conscious of how out of breath I sounded.

I wondered if he was staring at the same orange sunset I was through my window.

"Hey." Corpse sounded as calm as ever. "You ready, Mia?" 

"Yeah. Are you ready to bare with me while I suck at this game." I questioned back, getting a laugh from him.

"You don't suck, Mia." I quickly denied "You're the one and only killer queen, after all."

Killer Queen, the nickname he had come up for me during one of our games. Our fan bases, although different, had caught onto it and the name was splattered through my socials through comments and mentions.

"According to you." I grinned while I typed the code he messaged me into the game.

He had changed his name to CROPS and chose a cowboy hat for his character.

"Howdy Crops." I giggled as I made my character run around his.

"Howdy, young lady." he greeted with his best Southern accent. 

"What's a fine gentleman doing here around this spaceship?" I tried to imitate the accent, failing terribly at it. 

"You just sound more italian." Corpse pointed while laughing at my attempt.

"That's not fair." I pouted, even though he couldn't see me "Englishing with no apparent accents is hard enough."

"Englishing?" Corpse's laughter was loose and relaxed at this point.

"Don't mock me, Crops!"

Hearing his voice for the first time and some of his music, led me to believe he was a dark gloomy person, however moments like these and our interactions overall, made me realize how that assumption was far from being true.

We played a few rounds against strangers. We were an inseparable team, even when one of us got to be imposter, we would team up and win the game. The other players found this interaction to be quite annoying and soon we realized that playing anonymously wasn't as fun and laid back when we both got kicked out.

Corpse's giggles were endless when we were banned. 

"That was your fault, for that last round." he blamed me through the laughter.

"What? No way!" my cheeks were hurting " It's your fault for blaming the kill on me!"

"You told me to." he accused.

"Yeah and you complied." I stated crossing my arms.

We both let our laughs die down into a comfortable silence.

"What now?" I asked, my voice softer and calmer than before.

"We can watch a movie or something." he suggested.

The orange sunset was long gone. I blinked into the dark night sky through my window, realizing that this was the closest thing to a date that I'd ever gone. I had been in a few relationships before, but they never took me on traditional dates, only clubbing and nothing more.

"LA's fucked up." I mumbled to myself, unintentionally speaking my mind.

"What?" Corpse seemed confused from my comment.

"Nothing, I was lost in though." I quickly shrugged him off "Yes I wanna watch something. You like horror right?" 

Corpse agreed, so I taught him how to use Netflix party. Normally I had only used it to stream tvshows and movies with Marzia, but today I had company. 

"There's this tv show I'd been meaning to watch, it's called The Hunting of Hill House." I suggested " You know it?"

"I have heard of it." Corpse nodded from his end.

"I was supposed to watch it with Marz, but if you tell her I'll pretend I don't know what you're talking about." I smirked at my statement. "Also, if you don't want to start a show with me, it's fine."

"Your secret's safe with me, Mia." he jokingly swore "Let's do it. It'll give me more reasons to hangout with you."

My lips curved and my cheeks flushed without notice as I thought of the idea of spending more time with him. 

As we started the first episode, I reflected on how nameless faceless stranger was starting to have an unanticipated effect on me in just a week of getting in touch with him. Usually I was reserved and didn't let people into my life, however his company was soothing enough for me to let my guard down. 

I decided I wouldn't act upon it, as long as I didn't detect any ill intentions and trusted his vulnerability was genuine, I didn't mind staying in touch with Corpse and actually develop a friendship. 

AN: Happy weekend everyone! How are you feeling about Mia and Corpse's cute online friendship?