Stranded

A Stranger No More

Mutahar and Kasey passed the controller back and forth for a couple of hours. Both of them found themselves guilty of 'side-seat' gaming, as they snuck through the different levels of the hospital. Kasey proved to be somewhat of an impatient player, which undoubtedly led to more deaths, more jump scares, and more running. Mutahar kept his promise and didn't scare Kasey, although, she was doing a great job at scaring herself with darting out into hallways too soon and doing a horrible job at hiding.

Muta found himself having fun and laughing at the commentary Kasey was yelling at the tv. He was happy to learn he didn't need to watch his swearing, as she could almost give him a run for his money with the amount of shit talking she could dish out. Consciously or unconsciously, they slowly gravitated towards one another while they played, through either being scared or cheering on the other person.

Muta currently had the controller and was busy navigating his way slowly through the hallways, doing his best to conserve the battery power on the camcorder. Kasey was perched next to him, her arms wrapped around her knees in suspense. He could hear her holding her breath as he slowly traversed to his next destination by staying in the shadows. He was almost to the checkpoint when he forgot about an extra deranged patient in one of the rooms he had to walk through.

The jump scare caught both of them off guard, and Kasey let out a gasp and leaned into Muta to hide her face. Muta had jumped as well and grabbed Kasey's knee out of reflex. He let out a nervous laugh, "Ha, yeah, ah, that guy. I forgot about that dude. Totally my bad on that."

Kasey unhid her face out of Muta's shoulder, "Ugh dude, a little warning."

"Yeah I know," Muta still had his hand on Kasey's knee, and he noticed she wasn't shrugging him off. "I'm gonna grab a drink, want me to grab you something too?"

"Sure, just uh, I'll drink whatever you're drinking," Kasey replied as she picked up the controller and started over from the last checkpoint.

"No prob," Mutahar replied, getting up from his seat. He quickly grabbed a couple of bottles of water from the kitchen and came back in record time. He took a chance and sat right back down next to Kasey, just as close as he was before he went to the kitchen. If Kasey noticed, she didn't budge, as she was currently hiding her character in a locker and praying out loud that the monster didn't find her.

Muta sat both water bottles down and proceeded to coax her through her gameplay. "Alright, remember, don't move. I know you want to move but don't. That asshole is gonna come back twice."

Kasey was tense, but she nodded slowly, "Okay, I won't mooooooveeeeee OOOOOOOH FUCK HE'S BACK!"

Mutahar put his hand on her back and began to rub in circles to calm her down. "You got this, just be chill and hang. He can't see you."

Kasey nodded, "You sure?"

"I promise, he's gonna leave," he replied softly, feeling the muscles in her back untighten as she slowly began to relax. The monster crept away, and as soon as he was out of sight, Kasey maneuvered her character out of the locker and crept back out to the hallway.

"I think I'm gonna make it," Kasey whispered excitedly.

Muta grinned at her excitement at not utterly getting slaughtered. "Calm down, damn girl," he chuckled. She's cute when she's all in the zone. He maneuvered himself behind her and began rubbing her shoulders in earnest. Mutahar took it one step further by leaning forward and whispering encouragement into her ear, "There you go, okay, move forward, slowly. See, you're a natural. Almost there, almost there."

"Got it!" Kasey exclaimed. She took a deep breath and laughed, "Man, this game is awesome but nerve-wracking as fuck."

Mutahar chuckled, "You're doing better, just gotta be patient."