NOTICE: SrQueso is present here, too.

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The thick layer of grey clouds above cast a dull shadow across the town, and with the shadow came rainfall. Veteran headed down the sidewalk, his yellow and white striped umbrella shielding him from the shower pattering against the concrete and forming puddles in the asphalt of the main road. According to the forecast he'd checked before he left his own home, the sun would be in hiding for the rest of the day, and the rain would only get heavier as the late afternoon turned to evening.

He knew the route to Player's house by heart; he'd traversed the path many a time, ever since the two of them had first met, and for some reason, it always seemed that the way there was shorter than the way back home. Maybe because of the extra spring in his step that came with knowing he was about to go see his best friend? Perhaps so.

But today, Veteran's gait was stagnant and slow, without a bounce to be seen. He wasn't sure what awaited him there today, and he feared it might not be good.

However, in spite of his slow speed, he wasn't about to turn around...Not when he was already passing the familiar purple mailbox and making his way to Player's front door.

He knocked briskly, and only a few moments later someone answered the door; Veteran immediately recognized the violet-clad figure standing there as his best friend's mother, and she responded to his presence before he could to hers.

"Oh, Veteran," she huffed, a small smile forming across her face. "Honestly I'm glad you decided to come when you did. I think Player's...having a rough time with some things right now."

"Hey, Mrs. P. And yeah, I'm aware of the issue."

"Do you know what happened?" she inquired as she gestured for the yellow crewmate to come inside. "Alan and I were downstairs watching a movie when we started to hear him yelling, but we couldn't make out any words. And by the time we'd gotten up and tried see what was wrong, he'd stopped."

Ho boy... Veteran said to himself, closing his umbrella and hanging it on the coatrack by the door. "Has he come out of his room at all since then?"

"Well, yes. A minute or so later he came out into the kitchen to grab some water...He looked really upset. Is something happening between him and people in your online group?"

"Uh...I guess you could say that," the yellow crewmate replied flatly; the LAST thing he wanted was to spill too many intricate details to Player's parents and get him into unnecessary trouble with them. "...Wait, isn't Dum here, too?"

"She texted me about twenty minutes ago saying she'd left to go on a walk," Alan stated, entering the foyer. "...Why she'd want to go out in this kinda weather, I don't have any idea, but she's honestly done stranger things before."

"Heh. Well now I'm kinda curious," Veteran snickered. "Ah...But that's not what I'm here for. Mr. P., is Player back up in his room? I, uh...wanted to talk to him about what happened before."

"He is...And we really appreciate your concern for the situation, Veteran. If anyone can sort out a situation like this, it's probably you."

"Thanks, Mr. P...And I'll do what I can."

With that, the crowned crewmate headed up the flight of stairs and stepped towards Player's bedroom door. He rose his fist in preparation to knock, but then hesitated for a moment.

...Is he gonna be mad at me, too?

He wondered. After all, he himself had contributed to his best friend's loss streak on more than one occasion. And given what Player had said to him earlier, he figured he wasn't in a good spot, despite Player having shown him some mercy.

No...No, ya can't back down now, Veteran said to himself. Someone's gotta do this, after all.

So, exuding newfound confidence, he knocked on Player's door. Not too loudly; he didn't want to give the red crewmate the impression that someone was mad at him.

And to his pleasure, he got a response from inside.

"Who is it?"

Player's tone was flat and curt, but Veteran didn't let that deter him.

"Uh...It's me, Veteran."

"Oh..."

He heard Player sigh deeply before he spoke again.

"...Come in, I guess. Door's unlocked."

Veteran turned the knob and went inside to find Player sitting on the far edge of his bed, back turned away from the door. The yellow crewmate shut the door behind him and approached, taking a seat next to him and leaning slightly forward to get a better view of his face...It was obvious Player had been crying at some point, but by now the tears were dry, and the vermillion bean now wore a stern scowl on his face.

"...Hey, dude."

"Hi..."

"Uh...You okay?"

Player turned his head and gave him an unamused look in response.

"Oh. Well, I kinda figured not, but I mean...Are you any more okay than you were before?"

Player sighed again.

"I don't know...A little, I guess."

"A'ight, good, good. Every little bit helps," Veteran nodded. "So, um...You wanna talk about it, or something like that?"

"Not really."

"Hm...Well, how about I start us off?"

Player gave no response to his suggestion, not even an acknowledging glance...Nonetheless, Veteran started anyways.

"So, uh...What happened back there? Before I get into any details, I gotta say that...well...You made some really good points. I mean, if I was in your shoes and all that stuff happened to me back to back, I'd have probably snapped at some point, too."

Player diverted his gaze to Veteran as he continued to speak.

"I mean, yeah. You were right about a lot of things. Yeah, Captain IS an idiot and he does grate on your last nerves, TheGentleman's a condescending posh pomp, MrCheese is a narcissist, Bro is a little bit of all of those things combined, and Stoner is...uh...well, I guess his name speaks for itself, doesn't it?"

"Yeah..." Player replied flatly.

"So, I guess what I'm tryin' to say is...I understand why you did what you did back there. And, uh...well...I'm sorry myself, for...contributing to all that frustration you had pent up there."

Player sighed again.

"Well...It's alright, Vet," he responded. "I know you kinda messed things up a few times, but the stuff you do is at the bottom of my irk list. Besides, it's not like you do it on purpose..."

"Yeah," Veteran nodded in agreement. "...But, I mean...With all that said, I don't think it was a good idea-"

"I know what you're going to say, Veteran," Player interrupted him. "...I shouldn't have just yelled at everyone like that and called people names. I had some time to think about all that, and...I figured I was going to tell people off at some point, but I guess..."

Yet another sigh escaped him, and he hid his visor in his hands as he massaged his forehead.

"...I went a little far. Stuff just started to come out, and...I couldn't stop it."

"Seems about right," Veteran nodded.

"...Well, at least I know it's not going to happen again," Player told him. "I've already decided to leave the lobby. I'm probably going to end up deleting the game, too."

"Dude, I know you're still upset, but are you really sure about that?" Veteran asked him. "I mean, I know that some stupid crap happened on there, but that doesn't mean you have to give up on it. Maybe things will change."

"No. They won't, Veteran. It won't change...It never changes. Besides, they probably all hate me for what I said by now. And my sister's probably gonna be pissed at me too, so why bother?"

"Well...I don't think everyone hates you for it. Besides, you didn't go after everyone in the lobby."

"No, but still. They're probably more likely to side with the others, given my streak."

"I wouldn't count on that without some proof," Veteran shrugged. "Who's to say the others wouldn't agree with you to an extent, even? Sheriff's pretty straight in the head. So is Mother...Heck, even if you made a bit of a scene, I think you might've actually crammed some sense into Captain's head."

Player's head suddenly rose, his visor widening as he recalled the episode from earlier.

"...Captain?" he echoed. "Wh-what do you mean by that?"

"I dunno, man. Judging by some of the things he said after you left, he seemed to figure that you were right about a lot o' stuff there...Now, I'm not really sure whether or not you can fix stupid, but you might be able to fix clingy."

"I...Oh God, I don't know, Veteran, I think..."

He sighed again, massaging his forehead with the tips of his gloved fingers.

"...I give up. I just...give up on that place, okay? Everyone screwed up with me, and now I've screwed up with them. I just...I don't think it'd be worth it to go back there."

"...But if you give up, you'll never find out if things could've changed for the better."

"Why bother...? I already know they're not going to...I already know I'm going to be a loser for the rest of my life, no matter how hard I try. No matter who I meet," Player decided. "...It's all just a waste of time."

Neither of them spoke for a while. Player simply hung his head and stared down at his knees, and Veteran just looked at the crimson figure beside him blankly, not knowing what to say next and fearing that whatever he might think of would only irk his best friend more.

Veteran took a peek at his phone to see what time it was; 2:16 p.m., it read. And then he looked back at Player.

"...Well," he started, voice breaking ever so slightly from his nerves. "If you're not gonna be playing Among Us anymore, and you're done with the group, then...do you think it'd make you feel better to at least get some closure with them?"

Player managed a scoff, albeit without much effort put into it.

"You say that like I haven't already closed things off."

"Hey, come on dude. If you're not gonna stay, then if it'll ease your conscience at all you could at least come over one more time to apologize for what happened. Heck, the others probably have some things to say about themselves too at this point, so maybe we could just...leave on a better note than this, y'know?"

Player slowly turned his head away from him in response, his visor gazing blankly at the wall as he considered his options and thought more about Veteran's offer.

"Oh shoot, I forgot to ask," the yellow crewmate spoke up again. "Uh...How'd your sister take all that? Your dad said she went out for a walk...uh...in the rain. So that's not a good sign, I'm guessing?"

"Not really," Player confirmed. "...Man, this is NOT how I wanted her first day home from college to go. If I'm gonna apologize to someone, it's probably going to have to be her first."

"Any idea on when she'll be back?"

"Well, this is what she usually does. If someone upsets her, she goes out and walks to cool her head...no matter how bad the weather is."

"Heh...She could be a mailmate with that resilience."

"Maybe," Player shrugged. "...If I were to take a guess, she'll probably be out for pushing an hour. And I'm still not sure what Mom and Dad are gonna have to say about this."

"Well, I honestly think they'd be more upset if you'd yelled at HER like that. But you didn't; in fact, you asking her to leave so she wouldn't have to witness the verbal tornado that ripped through the lobby next was a smart move IMO. To me, they just seemed more concerned about you than angry, so maybe they'll take your side."

"...What do I tell them?"

"I mean, the truth," Veteran shrugged. "Someone you weren't fond of was eyein' up your sister AFTER grating on your nerves, you told him off, and you told off a few other people that were acting like buttholes to you and the rest of the lobby...but that you feel guilty and are fixing to sort things out."

"...To an extent, at least."

"Well, yeah...I'll back you up in case you need me if you're gonna do this. Doesn't have to be right now, though; when do you think would be the best time?"

"Well, there's supposed to be another meeting tomorrow morning, right?"

Veteran nodded.

"I...I think I'd better wait until then. Everyone might be a little more level-headed by tomorrow, and I don't want to say the wrong things when the lobby's still tense."

"That'll give you more time to focus on talkin' to your parents and sister too," the yellow crewmate pointed out. "...Will you be online around ten tomorrow?"

"Yeah. Think that'll be a good time?"

"Sure thing, man," Veteran nodded, standing up from beside Player and stretching himself out a bit. "Ahh, well...Guessin' you're feelin' a little less down in the dumps?"

"Yeah...Guess that did help," Player figured. "...Thanks, Veteran."

"No problem, dude. Hey, I'd like to stick around for a little longer, but I promised my mom I'd be back before three to help her out with some things around the house. I'll be around more tomorrow if ya wanna hang. Sound good?"

Player nodded, the slightest indication of a smile finally making itself visible.

"Yeah. Sounds good...Thanks for stopping by, man."

"No problem, Player. See you tomorrow."

Player turned and waved goodbye to the crowned crewmate as he made his way out the door. Veteran bid Player's parents a chipper farewell, much to their good hope and relief, before grabbing his umbrella and heading back outside...The rain had begun to pour even harder by then, but he didn't care; he did what had to be done and he'd done it well.

As he briskly made his way down the pavement, he hoped that tomorrow would bring the resolutions promised by today.

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...

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Across the Atlantic in a massive Victorian abode, two other members of the lobby began winding down for the evening. The charcoal-garbed figure sitting on the couch stared blankly into the living room; deep down he just wanted to forget about what had transpired that evening, but Player's words kept swimming around in his head without any sign of stopping.

"I have an affliction, huh TheGentleman? Do you HONESTLY think it's ALWAYS MY FAULT that the side I'm on never wins!? You want an AFFLICTION? Look at the orange parasite you're stuck with!"

They reached into the far corners of his brain, causing him to dwell on them more and more...Maybe they HAD been unfair to him. Yes, Player obviously had some sort of affliction, but given that he'd proven himself capable, it was hard to say that it was entirely the crimson crewmate's own fault.

"Hey, no need to be all sore about things, TheGentleman, heh heh. Besides, I'm makin' us some tater tot casserole for dinner tonight! Trust me, you're gonna love it, or my name not MrCheese!"

TheGentleman didn't respond to his partner verbally, only giving him the satisfaction of eye contact before the orange crewmate skipped back into the kitchen without a care in the world.

...Blissfully unaware of TheGentleman's ongoing internal debate.

"MrCheese...You are, by far, the worst person I've ever met. It's no wonder TheGentleman ditched you for MrEgg; he's made his fair share of screw-ups, but at least he's one of the few remotely SANE people in this lobby."

The black crewmate shook his head, as though to expel the idea of Player holding some ground there, too. Sure, sometimes MrCheese could be full of himself and a bit mean to the others...Okay, maybe it didn't only happen sometimes. Maybe it happened on a borderline regular basis. But surely, it wasn't completely unreasonable. After all, Player had inadvertently caused some predictability, and MrEgg...well...MrEgg hadn't really done anything to cause MrCheese to treat him the way he did. After all, TheGentleman knew it'd been his own idea to hire the former in the latter's place, yet MrCheese seemed to pin next to none of his aggression on the mastermind.

"...Man, I can't believe that stewpid Player killed the mood again. BIG time this time, too," MrCheese continued as he put the casserole in the oven and took out a pair of large dinner plates from the cabinet. "Well, at least we know he won't be back to ruin stuff anymore. I don't know what his issue is. He's always such a dumb dork moron over pretty much everything. Honestly, I think I'm glad he finally decided to-"

"MrCheese."

TheGentleman addressed him sternly and clearly, enough to startle the orange crewmate working at the oven. The latter turned around and looked into the living room to face the charcoal figure, a sense of dread overcoming him when he saw the look of contempt etched across his face.

"...We need to talk," he told him. "Preferably now, while dinner is in the oven."

MrCheese felt his heart drop into his stomach as TheGentleman beckoned for him to come into the living room, wearing an impatient expression...For the first time in a long time, TheGentleman appeared domineering and scary.

...And he had a feeling that there was a reason for that.