Anti made eye contact with all of the other Septic egos and Sean and suddenly he just wanted to run. All of these crazy emotions were welling up inside of him. Anger, guilt, fear. No, he was terrified.

Dark seemed to have sensed it and reached up for him, "Come here. Mark and Amy came out, too"

Anti looked over to see Mark standing by Sean and the older YouTuber grinned at him, "Hey there sparks!" 

'That's who Yancy gets it from' Anti grumbled in his head.

Mark pushed through the small crowd up closer to Dark and him, "Now I already told them but if they do or say anything that upsets you or makes you uncomfortable, you just let me or Dark know, alright?" he winked at him.

Anti glitched in embarrassment. He could feel the other's watching the interaction and staring and it just ticked him off. He pushed Mark away from him, "Fook off. I don't need your help"

Mark wasn't bothered by his action, though and just laughed, "Eh, whatever ya say glitchy" he playfully ruffled his hair and small harmless sparks flung off of him, the redder he got.

Dark snorted at Anti's actions. Normally if embarrassed, he'd glitch away and run off to the roof of some other part of the manor staying away from everyone. But he didn't seem to want to do that around Mark or Amy.

"Why would we hurt him anyway?" Jackie popped up looking genuinely confused, "Not like we'd blindly assault him without proper motive."

"Yeah, he'd have to try and kill us again" Henrik agreed.

"Seems he's lost some of his fire at least" Marvin snorted, "Domesticated much?"

Anti's eye twitched but he refrained from spitting insults at them. He wouldn't be the one to start a fight. Not this time.

Dark growled, though, "What did I just say a few minutes ago? Another quip like that and I'll make sure none of you get dinner tonight"

"Man, you've turned into a real dad, haven't you?" Mark chuckled.

"Shut up"

"He'd sure make a fine daddy, wouldn't he!?" Wilford shouted, laughing his fool head off. Some laughed and blushed but some also looked mortified. Especially Dark himself.

Things seemed to relax a tad with that but Anti was still on edge being in the same room as them.

Sean kept staring at him. Like he wanted to say something but was too afraid to.

The tension was building again but Amy couldn't take it. She had to do something to offset the awkward.

"Oh!" Amy giggled as she suddenly remembered something, "I can't believe I almost forgot! Anti! I got you something at the airport I thought you'd like. Come here"

Cautiously, Anti came forward but it was also closer to the Septics which made him more uncomfortable. But he tried to concentrate on Amy. He liked her. She was always nice to him and thought of him as part of the family. She'd always get him treats and she knew exactly what he liked. He had a sour-tooth just like Mark. You'd swear Anti was supposed to be an Iplier!

She pulled out a small package of lemon drops from her purse and Anti glitched in excitement, "Are those mine!?"

"Of course but you have to share with the others, too. Should be plenty in there for everyone" she laughed.

Anti pouted a little but nodded and she whispered in his ear, "Don't worry, I got some Lemon bars at home I'll freeze for you next time, okay?"

Anti smiled again, doing a small little shuffle with the drops in his hands, "Thanks Amy" 

"Of course sour is his favorite" 

Anti heard who it was that drawled with that tone but chose not to make a scene of it.

On the other hand, Jameson whopped Chase upside the head, 'Be NICE' he had signed to him, making the father roll his eyes.

The wholesome event with Amy seemed to have given Sean a boost and he cautiously came up to him, "Hey Anti. Been a long time, huh?" he held out his hand for him to shake but Anti just stared at him.

"Hm"

Sean gulped at the tension and put his hand down, "I mean . . . . It's been what? Two years? Three? You've never called or-"

"Didn't realize I was suppose to." Anti growled, "You lot are the ones who kicked ME out, after all. Figured you wouldn't want to see or hear from me"

Sean looked defeated, "Look, I know you're angry-"

"Oh I'm not angry" Anti clarified, gaining some courage by speaking to him, "I'm fooking livid. How dare you? How DARE you fooking have the nerve to talk to me as if we're friends? You don't even want me to be ME anymore! You gave that job to Marvin!"

"I couldn't just call you and ask, Anti."

"Actually, you could have. It is MY identity, after all"

"Look" Jackie broke in, "Can we NOT talk about this right now?"

"About what? There's clearly nothing to talk about"

Yandere huffed, "I mean . . . Anti would have been WAY better. Let's be honest"

Marvin glared at them and they hushed themselves, blushing.

"Yan does have a point" Mark even joined, shrugging at Sean, "I normally choose to stay out of your guy's drama but that was a pretty dick move, man."

Anti was grateful for the support but he had stayed around everyone for too long already. Chase's stone-cold glare was enough, "I'm going back up to my fooking room"

He went to turn but Dark stopped him, taking his hand. Before Anti could yank away, though, Dark just gently tapped the top of his hand with his thumb, "I'll send one of the others up later with a plate for you. Get some rest, yeah, kid?"

Anti just sighed and nodded. As he climbed the stairs, he chose not to hear the arguing that pursued downstairs.

'This is all bullshit. So fooking stupid. They better not fooking talk to me. I'll -' he shook his head and just went to his room.

He wouldn't do anything.

They weren't worth it.

Dark's glare was ice, "Another shit-show like that and I'll force you lot into a hotel to fend for yourselves. I didn't HAVE to let you all stay here. Let's be clear about that right now"

"Look, man, just where are we fooking staying? What rooms? I'm fooking trashed" Chase grumbled.

Dark turned his glare to Chase but the man wasn't really effected. Perhaps it was because he was dead inside already. Dark huffed.

"Unfortunately, the Septics will have to bunk with an Iplier as we do not have enough rooms available. And I'm not letting the void expand the house unless another ego is made."

"Sounds fair" Sean nodded, knowing he would be staying with Mark and Amy to be closer to the filming area.

"Who we bunking with?" Marvin was curious.

"I figured I'd let you guys make that decision" Dark shrugged, "From now on, just no more arguing or acts of hate." he looked to Chase, "Got it?"

"You got it!" Jackie grinned, "Who am I bunking with?!"

"Oo! Me! Jackie! You can bunk with me!" Yan bounced up and down, excitedly.

Jackie laughed at them, "Okay, okay! You got some new weapons to show me??"

Of course Henrik wanted to pair with Dr. Iplier and Marvin bunked with Host. Jameson asked to pair with Eric and Chase was with Bing.

After deciding and catching up a bit more, it was coming onto dinner and they all had a nice, big meal together, Mark, Amy and Sean included.

Up in his room, Anti's stomach growled but he didn't care at the moment. He popped a lemon drop in his mouth.

His heart hurt more than his stomach. They all seemed so . . . . delusional. They didn't want to believe he was hurting. That he could be hurt. They all acted like it wasn't such a big deal. Like there was nothing to be mad about.

Except for Chase. That was obvious.

And really, Anti didn't blame him. He fucked him up the worst.

Anti wasn't mad at him. He was mad at Sean. His creator makes all the decisions, after all.

He cracked the lemon drop in his mouth with his teeth, chewing it to bits.

'Knock' 'Knock' 'Knock'

Anti flinched out of his musings and swallowed the sour candy, "The fuck you want!?"

The door opened to reveal Dark with a plate of food in his hand, "Hungry?"

The glitch snorted but sat up, "Thought you said you'd have someone else bring that up?"

"Eh" he just shrugged, "Thought I'd pay my friend a visit. See how he was holding up."

He gave him the plate of spaghetti, "Careful. It's hot. . . . . So? How goes it?"

"It's going, I guess. Only been an hour and I already want them to fooking leave"

"I understand that. Sorry. If it makes you feel any better, I didn't make any of them bunk with YOU"

"I would have fooking killed you"

"No, you wouldn't have" Dark was confident in that.

"You're right." Anti slurped some noodles and talked with his mouth full, "I would've barged into YOUR room and bunked there"

"Now that, I believe"

"Then I'd trash your room and steal your bed"

"Mm-hm" Dark agreed that he most definitely would and smirked, "But hey. Worst part's over"

"What's this ego video about anyways? I know you're in it but is there gonna be anyone else? Of the Iplier egos I mean?"

Dark sat up straight, "Well I'm glad you asked!" he smirked at him, "Of course I'll be in it but Wilford will also be joining along with Mark, the Jims, Dr. Iplier and Google. Oh yeah. . . And I might have talked to Sean about letting someone ELSE on the crew"

Anti stared at him strangely as he finished his dinner, "Yeah? Who??"

Dark rolled his eyes, "You! You idiot, it's you!"

"What?" Anti didn't believe him at first, "No way. You're fooking joking" 

But it was clear he wasn't and Anti grinned suddenly from ear to ear, the mess of spaghetti sauce still all over his face, "No fooking way! ME!? You got ME in!?"

Dark nodded and Anti suddenly launched himself at him, tackling him on the bed, "You son of a bitch! I can't believe you!"

Dark didn't know at first if he was happy or pissed but since he wasn't dead yet, he figured he was ecstatic and chuckled with him, "Easy there, glitch" he wrestled him off, "Easy"

Anti wiped off his mouth of the red sauce, "How'd ya fooking do it!? No way Sean just up and asked!"

Dark straightened his tie, "Of course, this master manipulator has his ways"

"You nudged Mark to ask, didn't you?"

Dark cleared his throat, "That's beside the point. Point IS. . . Your in. Now how are you going to thank me?"

Anti stuck his tongue out at him, "I ain't blowing ya if that's- Oof!" 

Dark threw him off his bed, rolling his eyes, "You're so gross"

Anti rested his chin on the edge of the other side of the bed, "Thanks, Dark. I'll uh . . .. . I guess I could do dishes? Help Google and Bing with the cleaning?"

Dark rolled his eyes, "Only takes them a couple hours but I guess it's better than nothing coming from you. Fine. Deal."

"Yes!"

"And of course since Sean is here, too. . . . You know that means most of the other Septics will be involved in the filming. . .  right?"

Anti's mood fell a little but he shrugged, "It's fine. You'll be there. And so will Mark."

Dark bit his lip, "Yo-You know . . .  you can't just rely on us every time, Anti"

"I. . . I'm not. Just saying. . ..  it'll uh . . make things easier"

"Okay . . . You enjoy dinner? Looks like it. Looks like your clothes did, too"

"Oh fuck off"

Dark took his plate back and got up. He turned to leave, "See you tomorrow, Anti. Tomorrow will be better, I'm sure"

He got to the door when Anti finally relented, "Thanks Dark. Really. See ya tomorrow"

"No problem" he shut the door behind him, leaving Anti by himself again.

On the inside, he was thrilled but also . . . . what problems would rise from this? Would the other Septics throw a fit? Sabotage him? No, they were too nice for that . ..  Right?

Thank you everyone btw for all the birthday wishes AND for helping me reach past 300 followers! I can't even believe that! You guys are the best 💚🥰💚