Chapter Text
“Either you got a lot better at the game, or you installed a hack client.” Ashe deadpanned.
Vyncent blinked, “That wasn’t me, Ashe.”
“I know for a fact that Dakota is not that good at this game. Last time he played with us his death count was in the triple digits.” Ashe continued, a bit quiet, considering that the headphones were still lying on the floor.
Dakota grabbed the headset and turned up the volume, making Ashe’s voice significantly more audible. “So if it wasn’t you and it certainly wasn’t Dakota, who the hell was playing just now?”
“Uhhh…” Vyncent started, “His name is William?”
“Yeah, he’s the ghost living in our house!” Dakota chimed in. Vyncent sighed deeply and William chuckled. It sounds like an elaborate lie so he wouldn’t get in trouble for having a hack client, but it’s the truth. William was the living- well, dead, -proof.
Ashe was silent for a moment before immediately launching into a rant, “Do you know what type of ghost? Can you communicate with him? If you can, that’s a great sign for further communication, such as spirit boxes, which should be a faster and more convenient way of speaking with one another! If you want I can show you ways to learn more about him.”
Ashe stopped, sucking in large gasps of air, having said all of that in one breath. Once Ashe caught their breath, they spoke again, “Sorry for ranting, I just get really excited about ghosts.”
“...I can tell.” Vyncent said.
“I actually run a ghost-hunting blog, so I can point you in the direction of some materials you might need, if you want.” Ashe hummed, “Here, I’ll send you the link.” They were quiet for a minute, and William saw a page pop up on the chat board.
William clicked the link, it pulled up a page decorated in purples and grays, overall it was a very pretty webpage, with designs decorating the empty sections of the page. Dakota perked up, “Hey! I was on that page earlier!”
“You were?” Ashe questioned before pausing, “Oh god, you’re D.C. aren't you? God, I should’ve known from the spelling alone.” They groaned, their voice was muffled like they were talking into their desk.
“Mhm!” Dakota agreed and sat criss-cross on the floor with his hands on his knees, smiling contentedly.
“Well, that makes sense, then.” There was a knock through their mic. Ashe sighed, “That’ll be Mark. I gotta go, but message me if you need anything, okay?” Ashe left the call immediately after that, leaving no time to respond.
The three of them were silent for a minute, before Vyncent broke the silence, “So, Aspect of Chroma, huh?”
William didn’t have the Luigi board, so he turned back to the computer, pulled up a notes document, and typed ‘yup’ .
“So… You died.”
‘yeah’
“The principal said you moved.”
‘oh’
They spent a beat sitting in silence.
‘sorry’
“Wait, do you guys know each other?” Dakota tilted his head to the side curiously.
“Yeah, Dakota. He went to our school.”
Dakota frowned, “Why don’t I remember him then? I’m not that forgetful, am I?”
‘i didnt talk much’
‘not your fault’
“Oh. Okay then.” Dakota shrugged, though he still looked a little bothered.
William wasn’t really surprised that Dakota didn’t recognize him. He usually spent his time out of classes hiding in the library or the upstairs bathrooms. The only person who bothered to talk to him in the first place was Vyncent.
Vyncent found him huddled in a janitor’s closet after an unfortunate encounter with some jocks. Looking back, he probably hadn’t made the best impression, considering the fact that he was crouched in the corner trying to wipe the remains of his ruined lunch from his hoodie while muttering complaints to himself like a crazy person.
Regardless, Vyncent offered a helping hand (and a spare hoodie), and William was grateful for that. After that incident, the two of them got to know each other, and as it turned out, they had a lot of things in common.
Like Aspect of Chroma for example, which pulled his attention back to the heavy silence in the room that had gotten quite awkward by this point. ‘do you think if i practice touching things more i could open my laptop and play with you’
“...Probably?” Vyncent said, but it came out as more of a question, “I don’t think Ashe would mind.
“Can I play?” Dakota asked. His answer came immediately.
“No.”
‘no’
“Aw, man.”