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Scott had found many times through the life games that waking up to someone banging on your door is not an enjoyable experience.
It was really one of the better factors about his solo world, no one he didn't invite could appear and that meant no more getting woken up.
Right?
Wrong.
Scott was jolted out of bed by a banging on his door. He could hear Martyn in the bathroom to his side, so it wasn't him.
Scott hadn't invited anyone else to his world in the last week.
So, cautiously, he got up, throwing a shirt on before heading into the hallway and to the door, which he opened to find a disheveled Joel and a slightly less disheveled Lizzie standing on his porch.
“Scott we need to talk-” Joel spat out, and while Scott was used to biting words from Joel, this sounded more panicked than mean.
“I- sure- yeah, come in?” Scott stepped away from the door, gesturing them inside and to his couch.
“I should uh- get dressed first but make yourselves comfortable, I'll be right back.”
This got him a nod from Lizzie and a small wave of acknowledgement from Joel who seemed to be dissociating into his floor.
He hurried back to the bedroom, pulling clothes out as Martyn walked out of the bathroom.
“Is everything alright? I heard banging- is someone here?”
“I- yes? Joel's here- with Lizzie, I don't know how- but I think I know why.”
At the last statement Scott looked up to make eye contact with Martyn who nodded grimly before setting to get dressed himself, the two of them getting basic outfits on before stepping out to the living room.
“Hi- Joel, Lizzie” Martyn said with a wave as he perched on the arm of the armchair, Scott sitting in the actual seat of it.
“So-” Scott started
“I remember- except- except Lizzie doesn't know what I'm talking about- and neither does Etho, or- or Jim-” There was panic in Joel's voice, his words held an unsure quality that Scott was so unused to hearing in Joel's voice.
“It's- yeah. It doesn't seem like any of the non-winners know anything.”
Martyn took the lead to begin, he had talked to a lot of the other members, server hopping around in the last week to say hi to everyone.
“When you say you remember- is that- everything?” Scott asked as gently as he could.
“To- to third life. That's everything right?”
Scott nodded, relieved there weren't any new mechanics to be found.
It was at this point that Lizzie piped up from her place next to Joel.
“I'm sorry, I have no clue what any of you mean. Just that Joel's been gone for far too long- and came back ranting about Trivia- and red winter?”
Martyn flinched at the mention of red winter, Scott placing a hand over his in comfort, sighing.
“Grian- hosted games- where we, uh, killed each other. A lot.” Scott dropped his gaze from Lizzie's as he said the last part. He had his reasons for not having gone with Martyn to visit many of the others, shame was very much among them.
“And you all were- in all of these games?”
Both Martyn and Scott nodded, Joel had gone back to dissociating into the floor.
“You were uh- you were in three of them too.”
This gave Lizzie pause, her hand finding Joel's between them.
“Do you know where Grian is?”
Joel asked, looking up again at the 2 men across from him. Both of whom shook their heads.
“I've been trying to look for him, and everyone has been messaging him, but his comm isn't coming online. It's the same thing with Scar.”
Martyn's brow was wrinkled, this had been a big issue for him, he'd found everyone else but Scott had been watching him get more and more upset over the disappearance of Grian and Scar.
Joel shook his head
“So he just did this to us and disappeared?”
Martyn nodded. Turning his hand over to squeeze Scott's.
“Do you have questions? About things you remember?”
Scott waited for Joel to look to him before he continued
“I know I'm not Grian, but I talked to him a lot. I think I know a lot of what he did.”
Joel looked up at the ceiling for a second, taking everything in before dropping his gaze back to Scott.
“Why doesn't everyone else remember?”
He glanced over at Lizzie as he said it.
“I don't- that's one of the things Grian wasn't sure of. He didn't uh- he didn't make that choice.”
Scott emphasized the last part. He knew he couldn't say who made that choice outloud. His solo world wasn't safe from them.
But maybe Joel knew.
“Our running theory was that it's a punishment. We killed all our friends so we have to remember doing it.”
“And us? Why do we remember everything once we've won twice?”
Scott squeezed Martyn's hand, chewing on the inside of his cheek as he considered how to answer.
“I… I'm not honestly sure- I don't know what another option would be though? What could another punishment possibly be for winning?”
This gave Joel pause and he shook his head.
It took everyone a minute to say anything after that. Martyn shifted to put a hand on Scott's shoulder.
“Do you need anything else here Joel?”
Lizzie asked, turning towards her husband who shook his head.
“Not- not really, not if they don't know where Grian is”
The 2 started pulling up menus on their communicators to teleport back to their worlds.
“I'm sorry we don't know more.”
Scott said, biting his lip.
“Keep in touch, I'll let you know if we find Grian.” Martyn added as the two tapped on their communicators.
Joel nodded, Lizzie offering a small
“Bye guys”
Before the 2 were gone and Martyn and Scott were left sitting in Scott's living room.
“D'you think they took him?”
Scott asked quietly, looking up at Martyn, who shrugged
“Couldn't tell you, everything's been so quiet recently.”
Scott nodded, sighing before standing from the chair.
“I'm going to make breakfast, do you have any plans for today?”
Martyn stood as well, shaking his head
“We could build something?”
Scott nodded with a smile.
Nothing was okay, and Grian and Scar were missing. But not everyday had to be bad, even if it started out with a banging on his door.