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Chapter Text

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Noli was a god. 

Imposing. 

Dangerous. 

Powerful. 

He held all the power possible for a god of his popularity, the Void Star that delicately adorned his head simply displaying this fact. The sleek black crown formed perfectly sharp spikes that decorated the entire circumference of their head, with the spike in the dead center of his forehead embellished with a floating rotating white star. The crown was intimidating by itself, its dangerous beauty perfectly describing the savage power held within. Noli could feel its power echo throughout his entire body, a sensation they had grown quite used to within the years of his ownership over the crown. The crown held its own chaotic aura within its power, an accessory perfectly suited for a god of chaos. It presented his authority on a silver platter. It was an extension of him and him alone. 

He had built this power himself. They grew their cult himself, and now they reaped what they sowed; a lovely set of believers that would kill for them. Kill for the slight chance to be blessed by his gaze. Do anything in the name of the Void Star. And yet, despite his overwhelming power and his influence over his concerningly devoted followers, Noli found himself looking for more. For something different. 

They were bored. 

Extremely bored. 

His followers offered him excess amounts of chaos for him to feast upon from his sleek obsidian throne. They praised him, followed his words down to the most minuscule of meanings. They tracked chaos throughout Robloxia which every step of their feet, all of it credited directly back to them. All of it caused in the name of the Void Star. 

The chaos they provided to him was... sufficient enough but still left him feeling lacking. Empty. Bored. They wanted more. They created every order, placed every brick of chaos to tumble perfectly in sequence for him to watch. He had a direct hand in the actions of his followers; he could command them to blow up the Roblox HQ, and they would simply ask when. 

 Yet he felt as though he didn’t have a real effect within the chaos happening in honor of his name. They wanted to cause the chaos with their own hands, not just for it to be created from other’s labor as they watched lazily from a cold quiet throne - eyes half lidded, and attention only half paid. It was never enough. Would never be enough for him. Their hands itched for the thrill; his mind ached in the silence of his chambers. He wanted a direct hand. They needed to feel the thrill of directly destroying a building or spreading a computer virus throughout the city’s most important data centers. 

They chased the thrill of the chaos caused by his own hands, the itch of adrenaline under his skin, and yet here he was, allowing all the fun to his mortal followers as he sat through the boring cult meetings and debriefings. A noble follower was planted in front of him, their pale white robing flowing softly around them while they explained their troupe's most recent shenanigans. 

The follower had bowed her head low upon entry into the throne room, hood covering most of her face in shadows – though her face wasn’t needed to recognize her status within the cult. Her flowing white robe was embellished with silver threading depicting many stars and constellations across the entire surface of the fabric. The silver threading shimmered slightly in the dimmed throne room, the only light to be seen coming from the stained-glass windows and pale candles adorning their sills. The silver thread placed her around the status of a newer priestess; she had likely not yet completed her training rituals. 

Her voice was soft yet full of authority as she recounted her missions, but it carried a slight hint of excitement laced in. Noli just sat in his throne, legs crossed, gazing at the priestess that stood before him. He wasn't really paying attention, but he tried to at least make it appear that he was. They propped their head upon one of their hands as they finally tuned into her ramblings. 

“Your Divinity, the recruitment efforts are going swiftly. It’s highly likely we will have met our quota within the week.” She spoke in consciously hushed tones, as though she was trying to protect a form of tranquility that often harbored itself deep within the empty throne room. 

“Very well. You’ve done your job excellently, Priestess.” His voice echoed across the empty marble walls, replacing the unnerving silence with something more bearable, in his opinion at the very least. The silence wasn’t something he was very prone to preserving within the empty hall. His response – or more likely the abrupt volume change within the hall – had seemingly startled the young priestess. Noli watched her jump slightly, earning a slight chuckle from them. Maybe she hadn’t actually expected such a response from him directly. Perhaps she thought her unfinished status made her unworthy of a direct response from the god themself. She looked up at the god, smiling softly. 

“Thank you. Is there anything else we can do for you today, your divinity?” She asked softly, hope laced between each word that fluttered out of her lips. Noli still didn’t quite understand these mortals; their devotion to him seemed to overrule all their instincts. They watched many of his most devoted followers collapse from sleep exhaustion, each of them spilling excuses from their lips that all pointed to their need to prove their devotion. To do something for Noli directly. To prove themselves to his divinity. It was honestly very confusing to him, most things that mortals did regularly did. Why did they love him enough to sacrifice their everything for his approval? Perhaps it was just based in mortal desires and feelings, things that he as a god simply haven’t and likely couldn’t experience for himself. 

He noted the exhaustion that laced itself across the now revealed priestess’s face. Though they would love more chaos to fill the mind-numbing emptiness of the throne hall, they decided they’d rather not see another follower pass out from sleep deprivation so soon. The last one was only a few hours ago. So Noli simply waved the woman off. 

“No need, Ophelia. You and your trope please rest.” Noli sighed, returning his hand to its usual placement of lying lazily upon the cold throne’s arm rest. Ophelia simply nodded – her tired smile plastered across her face never wavering – before turning on her heel and exiting the dim throne room, leaving Noli accompanied only by deafening silence and the clack of a closed door. 

The silence hurt. He was accustomed to it of course, but that didn’t make his patience for silence any less thin. They dragged their hands down their mask, the cold eating itself through their gloves and throughout the flesh of their hands. The cold kept him awake. Kept them thinking.  He couldn’t tell if that was a blessing or a curse disguised in a decorative bow. 

He was the god of chaos, he wanted the thrill, the dramatics, the noise. Yet, more often than not, Noli was left solely with their own thoughts as mind-numbing silence eats away at the corner of every single thought. His followers took care of everything, only leaving behind the boring tasks for Noli to complete. All tyhe had to be was an example of a good deity, whatever that means. Loyal. Full of authority. Powerful. Quiet when needed. 

He was everything but quiet. They demanded noise, fed off it as though it was a four-course meal. His followers – Hell, Robloxia as a whole – presented everything he wanted on a silver platter, placed directly in front of him. Chaos. Noise. Thrills. Noise and chaos was etched into the very coding of the mortals’ beings. All of it was placed before him in an intricate manner. It was a buffet. Plates stacked upon plates until it was almost overwhelming. All of them appetizing. All of them practically within his reach. Yet they couldn’t be touched. Meals meant to be observed. Meals meant to be forgotten. Cuisine he wasn’t even allowed to even glance at sometimes. All of them tempting him. Tempting their senses, their desires, fishing for a reaction. Fishing for anything out of them. The other gods sat around the table with him, eyes glued to him as though he would dart from the seat if they didn’t. As if they would just disappear. Glares shot across the table, full of disgust and malice. Full of anger. Glares just looking for someone to blame. Glares that studied his every moment, his every thought, until they could pinpoint another one of Noli’s flaws.  

They hated him for his desires and his occasional selfishness.  

How ironic. 

Why was it that they were thrown such ugly looks? Why did the others present him with a feast made distinctly for him and expect him to only admire? Why was he expected to stand back and watch the others indulge their selfish desires? He watched them feast personally, saw them “bless”  Robloxia themselves. Watched them experience mortal life, fulfilling each and every desire they could’ve possibly had as a mortal.  

Their greed was palpable. Their selfishness the very binding of their being.  

And yet Noli was shamed? They were held at a higher standard, expected to be the moral example of a perfect deity. Him? The god of chaos, reduced to a concept of what a god should be. Following guidelines, hitting every quota and mark, while they broke code after code. Laws set by themselves, governed by themselves, and now broken by themselves. Every code surrounding mortals had been broken. Yet the god of chaos of all deities was the most law-abiding of them all. 

He sickened himself now. 

Hell, even Telamon himself had feasted upon mortal experiences. Fulfilling his greed with mortals while leaving his entire post as a god. Locking these mortal experiences behind a gate bolted closed, trying to block his sin from the eyes of his fellow gods. He was practically retired, and yet nobody else had a problem with it. They need someone to blame, some to point their finger at when they felt guilt over their own actions. Someone to uphold the mortals’ beliefs in the capacity of their gods. After all, what is a god without his followers? A shell. They're nothing at all but a concept long forgotten to time. A story only grazed upon by dust on a shelf. They needed a standard. Someone to point at as both the righteous and the worst. Both the standard and the sinner.  

But what is the point now? Why was he still following laws swallowing held down desires itching their way out of his flesh towards the surface? Why not just... give in? 

And that’s what they did. For an entire year Noli had found himself sneaking away during his quieter hours, aching to fill the itch that had become ever-present in his daily life. Within Robloxia he wasn’t some larger-than-life god, he was just “Noli.” No bearer of the Void Star, no claims of his divinity. They were allowed to wander, causing chaos without persistent eyes studying his every moment. He quelled the persistent itch slowly; it was a stable method, a quick fix. Yet they still wanted more. He had plenty of information, enough to completely integrate himself within the population of Robloxia without any questionable glances. So that was his plan. Drop off the grid until every Sunday, live a second life. One where they had a direct hand in everything. 

 Quench his thirst for knowledge and chaos. 

 His plan was already in motion, pieces set through subtle mentions of “important solitary work” he needed to complete. It was all set, all they needed was to slip away silently, and now was the perfect time to execute his plan. The cold within the room etched itself across every surface. The silence was thick and off-putting. The room was empty. It was perfect.  

Noli rose from his throne, robes flowing gently around him as once crinkled fabric straightened itself once again. He took a couple of steps away from the platform, now placing himself in front of a silver framed mirror. His reflection echoed back at him; his pale mask etched in a smile, reflecting his genuine emotions perfectly.  The Void Star floated above their head, catching the dim silver light occasionally within its rotation. The robes that adorned his body embellished with constellation after constellation, all of which he could name exactly. His appearance was perfect of course, fit for a powerful deity such as himself, but it was intimidating. Scary. Almost eldritch, if he removed his mask that is. His stature severely overshined the average height of a robloxian, he was extremely tall. There were things that they would need to “fix”, things they needed to change to not arouse suspicion from the gods and mortals.   

So, he got to work. They already had their “mortal form” planned and easily available for their use. His height shrunk from terrifying to a humble 5’6, just below the average male height. His Void Star changed itself, manifesting itself as a simple star hair pin clipped to his head. Their clothing changed significantly, from royal robes that adorned their body like waves to something more “mortal;” a purple hoodie with stars adorning the end of the strings, a pair of dark jeans, and sneakers. His change of hood allowed his hair to be visible; it’s pale purple – almost white – color deeply contrasting the dark shadow of the hood. He glanced at himself in the mirror, checking for any missed “godly” attributes. They looked like a textbook example of a college student. 

Perfect. 

He turned away from the mirror, allowing his nova to manifest within his hand. The cold within the room had made itself known, his lessened layers allowing the cold to etch itself through all his flesh. They shivered slightly, hastening their pace. If he was going to successfully “disappear” for the remainder of the week, he needed to do it now: and preferably without frostbite eating away at his skin. They flicked their hand slightly, the nova floating above it recognizing their silent command. A portal flickered to life before him, displaying green grass and trees, bushes covering the ground, and leaking heat into the otherwise deathly freezing hall. The portal rippled at the edges; the stability of its connection left uncertain. Without a second thought, Noli stepped quickly into the portal, letting the warmth of the world gently embrace him.  

This was going to be fun. 

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The city bustled at its usual pace. Voices echoed down streets, laughter reverberated across buildings, shuffling of feet could be heard for miles. The start of the fall semester had brought in swarms of people, families all of varying blood relations, the sight of hugs and crying mothers seemed more prevalent than ever.   

The sight stung, rubbing salt into 007n7’s already annoying wounds. He never actually expected his parents to approve of his decision – he was far too risky with his actions than they would’ve liked- but now it just felt like Telamon himself was rubbing it in his face. The sea of sorrowful goodbyes seemed to be never-ending, though he did suppose there would be a lot of students attending the fall semester. He wove himself through the crowds of people, his belongings lugging heavily with him. He should’ve just paid the damn bus fee and not had to walk but it was far too late to do that now. He knew that well enough, and his ego wouldn’t let him do anything other than what he was doing now. Who needed a bus?  

By the time he had arrived at the dormitory building, 007n7 had concluded that a slightly bruised ego would’ve been significantly better. His arms and legs ached, to a point he didn’t even know was physically possible. He decided that next time, he was taking the damn bus. Lugging this amount of shit around at this point had to be considered physical torture, but he continued anyway. The halls of the dormitory building echoed with voices and were cluttered with appliances scattered lazily across the vinyl wooden floor. Move in day chaos reverberated through the air, loud crashes mixed with hushed arguments coming from the open pale doors. However overstimulating the current events surrounding him were, 007n7 focused only on finding his dorm. He made his way down the long hallways, narrowly avoiding people and a random toaster laying in the center of the hallway. 

After a significant amount of lazy dodging, 007n7 found himself standing in front of his supposed dorm. He unlocked the door quickly, desperate to just lay down and nap after the hike he took to just get here. The door swung open and 007n7 slipped inside, still dragging all of his things with him. The room was dark except for the light coming from the window and a light from what he supposed to be the kitchen area. The room didn’t look devoid of any life; there were posters and a string of lights hung above one of the beds, the bed was slightly unmade, and there was the faint light of a laptop on the desk. He had known he would have a roommate, though he wished he got a choice in the bed picking. More karma from deciding to walk to protect his fragile pride he supposed. He shrugged lightly; the action was more for himself than anyone else because it seemed his roommate was out for now. He dropped his things near the end of the empty bed before flopping himself on top of the stiff mattress. The bed creaked slightly, a fact he took note of swiftly. That would be annoying to hear through the night, but he simply brushed it off. The strain of the day wore on him, his eyelids feeling as though they were actively being dragged down.  007n7 sighed, shifting so he could place at least his burger hat on the table beside him before napping.  

He figured he would wake up before his roommate returned. A cat nap surely wouldn’t hurt, at least not as much as it would help. He closed his eyes before slowly drifting off to sleep. 

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Noli had only been in this new “dorm” of his for about 2 hours, but they felt as though they had decorated his side perfectly. Of course it was nothing like their monumental archaic style temple, but it felt homey in an unusual way. Satisfied with his work, he stretched lazily; their back cracking slightly. They swiftly decided on taking a shower while they waited for their roommate to actually arrive. The concept of a roommate intrigued them to a curious extent, to an extent he even thought was odd for themself. Perhaps they would get lucky, and their roommate would be the chaotic fix they so desperately searched for. But for now, he needed a relaxing shower. They shut and locked the door behind them, taking slight notice of how dark he had left the dorm. Maybe they should turn more lights on later. 

A while later, Noli exited the bathroom, a bit of water still clinging to their skin and hair as they dabbed at it with a towel. Nothing had notably changed in the dorm, except for the now fully asleep person on the bed opposite his and the large bags placed at the foot of the bed. Noli sighed, of course they would show up when he wasn’t there. They turned, placing the towel down on the desk chair next to him, before making their way towards the slumbering Robloxian.  

Noli leaned down, gently poking the person’s shoulder. No response. The slight rise and fall of the Robloxian noted that they were still alive. That was good at least. Noli took the till moment to quickly study their new roommate. The man had chesnut brown hair that laid messily across his entire head. Noli noted that he had fallen asleep with his glasses on, odd. His skin was dusted with freckles, laid upon the skin although they roughly represented constellations. Noli stood back up, before shaking the man slightly. 

“What?” the robloxian hissed, slowly opening his eyes. The realization that he had fallen asleep in a new place danced across his face, his eyes widened before he spoke again. “Who the fuck are you?” 

“Y-You know, I should be the 0ne asking you t-that.”  Noli responded quickly, their mask displaying a slight smirk. The robloxian only stared at him blankly, Noli simply inhaled before continuing. “I m3an, you’re the 0ne r-randomly sleeping in my d0rm.” Their voice glitched and stuttered regularly, just another symptom of the void star that was often displayed by mortal bodies. He crossed his arms over their chest, still staring at the now slightly embarrassed man before them. It seemed like the robloxian wasn’t about to start talking again, so Noli just decided to take the conversation in their hands again. 

“Alright, le-let's start 0ver. My nam3’s Noli.” 

“007n7, you can just call me 7n7 though.” The man in front of him replied. Noli nodded in acknowledgement. 

“So, I’m a-assuming y0u’re the roommat3 I was t0ld ab-about?” The glitches in their voice didn’t seem to go unnoticed by their other, 7n7 squinted his eyes before glancing over Noli. It was only fair, Noli had done that to him only a few minutes earlier. 

“Yep.” 7n7 replied harshly, Noli understood it to be laced with annoyance.  

“Sick, 0-okay.” Noli responded. He wasn’t about to press the buttons of a man he just met and will have to live with for the next year. Noli shrugged, walking back to his bed before placing themselves down on it. 7n7 had seemed slightly shocked by the lack of pushing from Noli but seemed to silently accept before turning back over to continue sleeping. Noli just continued their work quietly, the only noise in the dorm room being the clacking of his hands on the keyboard and the low hum of the air conditioning. They would just have to wait till 7n7 was in a slightly better mood to figure out their opinion on him. If there was one thing Noli knew about themselves, it was that they could be patient. Scarily patient sometimes.  

They could wait. They would prefer calmer answers, anyway, not answers fueled by annoyance and overstimulation. 7n7 reeked of annoyance, there was no good opinion one could form while being annoyed. So Noli left it alone, they would continue their work until 7n7 awoke himself. Noli shifted themselves in their bed and continued typing.  

This might take a while. 

Chapter Text

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It had been hours since 7n7’s... strange first encounter with his roommate and yet he had yet to calm down. The sight of a dark figure lingering over you after you’ve first woken up, eyes still foggy with the echos of heavy sleep, would be enough to frighten anyone.  But for some odd reason, 7n7 had found himself completely unable to return to his desperately wanted nap. He figured the sight had just frightened him, and rightfully so, leaving his body on edge and unable to rest.  

But as minutes faded into hours, 7n7 found himself still lying in his bed and now fully awake. The clacking of a keyboard and the faint ticking of the clock the school so humbly hung above his bed were the only noises that seemed to ride through the air. The knowledge of him needing to unpack his stuff rattled itself through his brain, practically screaming at him to be productive in any sense of the word. He refused to listen, opting to zone out on the blank light grey wall in front of him. Besides, he assumed there would be more conversations with his roommate in his near future if he got out of his bed.  He didn’t have the energy to discuss anything at the moment. The only energy he had left in him fueled the thoughts swirling through his head.  

Thoughts of things he had to do; chores he simply did not have the energy to complete. Mixed between these tiring thoughts, 7n7 thought about his roommate. The thoughts were just faint echos laced between the laundry list of chores he needed to get done. As more time passed, the echos gradually grew louder.  

His brain dissected the memory down multiple times. He felt compelled to. Drawn to the imagery of his roommate. Drawn to think about the way the other’s theatrical mask placed upon their face seemed to fluctuate through emotions and displayed their every thought like any face would. How their hair, pale purple in color and held in dreads, cascaded around their face as they looked down at him – though studied him would be a more accurate description. How his hair and skin – also purple in color – were lightly brushed in water droplets that shone slightly in the light that filtered through the blinds on the window. He noted their clothing, a simple black tank top and purple pajama pants plaided with black lines. How they were clearly fresh out the shower. How their face – or mask – lit up with shock when they noticed that he was awake. How he- 

Okay so most of his thoughts were about Noli and their recent encounter. Sick. Great. 

 It was perfectly normal for him to observe the man he was about to live with for the next year. He would have to eventually, kind of hard not to when living together. What’s the problem with getting it over with now? He was simply being productive. Yep. Observation is an important skill to have in life. You observe everything and everything after all, whether you mean to or not. 

Okay, he really needed to get out of his brain.  

He hugged his pillow to his face briefly; the scent of clean but almost dusty fabric overwhelmed his senses and shook him quickly out of his thoughts. He shifted out of his bed, flinging his legs off the bed and standing up; the sudden lack of weight making the bed creak loudly. Well, if Noli didn’t know he was up, he definitely did now. 7n7 exhaled, he was acting like a child caught sneaking out for snacks. He was being ridiculous. He stretched for a long while, bones popping, before turning away from his bed. Noli was still sitting on their bed, back against the wall and knees to their chest, while typing on their laptop. He looked up from the screen to glance at 7n7. 

“O-oh. Y0u’re up?”  Noli asked, though it seemed more like an observation said aloud than an actual question. 7n7 chose to answer anyways, after a brief yawn. 

“Yep.” 7n7 responded, his tone coming out slightly harsher than he truly meant. He was tempted to correct himself but simply found himself too lazy to. He sleepily lugged himself around to the end of his bed, beginning to search through his pile of bags.  

“S-slept w3ll th3n?” Noli snickered, turning to bury his nose back in the blue screen in front of him. “Y0u lo-look like y0u sl3ep every blue m00n.” 7n7 scoffed, rolling his eyes. He was already teasing him. 

“You ever been told you’re nosy?” 

Noli fake gasped, head whipping from his laptop to look at 7n7 and dramatically clutching his hand over his chest- like it was some outrageous accusation. 

 “Am n0t.” 

“Dude, you were literally watching me sleep earlier.” 7n7 replied; one eyebrow raised, and arms crossed. Noli appeared genuinely shocked that 7n7 actually noticed him earlier. Maybe he thought 7n7 was too tired to actually pick on the way he was studying him. No matter, he had to know by now. 

“T0uché.” Noli shrugged, opting to remove his nose out of 7n7’s business and placing it back into whatever he was typing. 7n7 was curious, but his need to shower had to come first. He’d ask later if he even remembered to. His memory for tasks was... sketchy to put it lightly. 

 7n7 silently snickered, gathering the rest of his things before escaping to the bathroom to shower. He probably should’ve before laying on his once clean bed sheets, but he was simply too lazy. He’d just have to add washing them to his ever-growing list of things he’s likely to never remember to get done. He entered the bathroom, locking the door swiftly behind him.  

He flipped the light switch to his left on; the bathroom was lit by a single bright white light built into the roof. He blinked, eyes taking a while to adjust to the sudden change. The bathroom was decently sized, and the walls were painted a surprisingly dark beige. He expected every wall to be painted the same boring grey as the bedroom; the school had beaten his expectations – for now.  

7n7 placed his change of clothes on the counter across from the shower, glancing quickly at the mirror that hung above the sink. Noli had been right, he looked like shit. He simply sighed, turning the faucet knob in the shower to make the water just warm enough. The steam rolled off the shower of water, it was relaxing. He shrugged his clothes off, making the conscious decision not to glance at the mirror once his shirt had been removed. He never liked those scars; it was better for him not to look at all. Upon stepping into the shower and feeling the warm water rush down his body, he sighed. The water relaxed all of his muscles, which apparently included his brain. The thoughts that had seconds earlier plagued every corner of his brain were now gone, replaced by welcome relaxation. He sunk into the water, allowing himself to finally relax fully since his long hike up to the dorm. It felt super refreshing. 

He was going to take his sweet ass time. 

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The soft patter of the shower water flowed gently from behind the bathroom door. The patter only adding to the constant repetition from the clock hung above the other’s bed and the low whine of the air conditioner above his. It had been quite a while since their last conversation – since 007n7 had left to shower – Noli wondered if he had fallen asleep in the shower. The thought made them snicker lightly. They had long forgotten about the work that now stared back at them from their dimming laptop screen, the monitor in constant threat of falling asleep. 

Truthfully they weren’t working per say. It was more of a passion project they had decided to pick up. Just a bit of code, or at least to them. They had learned code quite a while ago, it was the foundation of Robloxia after all. What kind of god would he be if he couldn’t manipulate the very matter of the universe?  

A very weak one, that’s what.  

They figured their history with code would be beneficial if they majored in something like computer science, something dependent on coding. They weren’t here to learn after all, just to cause a bit of chaos within an environment ripe with it to begin with.  

The screen in front of them darkened to black. With a quick jostle of the track pad, the screen burst back to life, brightness hurting their eyes slightly.  They debated just laying down for the night, it was like 10 pm at this point. The sudden halt of water grabbed Noli’s attention fully. 

Guess he didn’t fall asleep then.  

Noli turned back to the keyboard and continued typing; if they were going to wait for 007n7 they would at least be productive in their wait. Just for a bit longer. Their fingers glided across the keys, the slight echo of the keys accompanying the repetitiveness of the ticking clock. Noli found getting too focused on his work very easy, he often found out he tuned out his surroundings while extra concentrated. Of course, he only knew this because people told him; his friends he often hung out with over the past year told him it was oddly hard to grab his attention sometimes. Tuning out noises and voices just helped them focus. 

Noli didn’t hear when the bathroom door unlocked and swung open. They didn’t hear whatever 007n7 was asking them, only registered there was now a voice in the repetitive sounds they had been hearing. They just kept typing. It wasn’t until his laptop screen came down quickly, closing on his fingers and causing him to jump back, that he zoned back in.  

“0-0uch dud3, what the h3ll?!” Noli hissed, slipping their hands out of the now closed laptop. Their voice glitching a slight bit more with the pain. 

007n7 was standing before them, one hand on the top of his laptop and the other placed lazily in his pocket. Noli shook his hands, trying to shake off the invisible pain while 007n7 simply smirked. 

“Had to get your attention some way or another, you know?” 007n7 slipped both his hands into his pockets, shrugging slightly as he spoke. Noli glared, their hands still slightly aching. He didn’t need to slam it that hard to get their attention, a simple shoulder tap would’ve worked. 

“I’m sur3. T0tally n-n3cessary.” Noli said, moving their head to resemble an eyeroll. Their mask didn’t have pupils, so the gesture would have to be enough. 

“Trust me, it was.” 007n7 snickered, his smile displaying his teeth. They were... sharper than most Robloxians’ Noli had seen. Though, the sharpness made sense on the man before him. 007n7 had two devil shaped horns on his forehead and a long sharp tail that hung lazily behind him, flicking side to side ever so often. How had they missed that earlier? The horns and tail were so prevalent, how did he just glaze over their existence earlier? How distracted were they? 

“You’re staring again. Damn, we just met a couple of hours ago and you’re already star-struck?” 007n7 laughed, placing his hand lazily behind his head. His tail swung steadily now, he seemed content with his own joke. Noli sighed, moving the laptop so it sat next to him on the bed rather than his legs.  

“What3v3r man.” Noli responded, the glitches in his voice unable to drown the amusement that laced his voice. The man in front of him was going to be interesting, that was for sure.  

“What’d y0u ev3n w-wanna talk ab0ut?” Noli asked, resting his head on one of his hands. “I m3an, assuming y0u had som3thing imp0rtant enough t0 mak3 an attempt to c-cut my fing3rs 0ff.” 

“Well, I was asking about your code.” 007n7 replied, pointing one finger at the laptop that now lay closed. “Oh, and I guess also what your major is.” His hands return to their places in his pockets with swift precision. 

“T-Talk ab0ut n0sy...” Noli teased, to which 007n7 just smiled smugly “C0mputer sci3nce.”  

“Oh shit, me too. Didn’t expect you to be in computer science though.” 7n7’s grin never left his face. At this point, he might as well have had it painted on. 

“What’d y0u e-exp3ct then?” Noli gasped, slightly offended. 

“I don't know? Like theater or something like that.” 007n7 waved his hand through the air as he spoke. “With your mask and all of that.”  007n7 had leaned in slightly, cocking his head to the side as he studied Noli’s mask.  

“Where did you even get that? Gotta be like... mega rich for something that precise.” 

“Mad3 it mys3lf.” Noli shrugged smugly, “A little bit of c-c0ding g0es a l0ng way.” they smirked. 

 007n7 stood back up, trying to decipher if Noli was lying. Eventually, probably due to the poker face the mask gifted them, 7n7 seemed to decide Noli was telling the truth. And he was. For the most part.  

“That’s sick as hell.” 

Noli just hummed, leaning back against the wall by their bed. 7n7 plopped down next to him, like he belonged there. Noli scoffed, reaching for their laptop to begin coding again. 7n7 yanked it from them, hiding it swiftly behind his back while still grinning devilishly. Noli groaned, they weren’t going to get any work done at this rate. 

“D-dude.” 

“You never answered me.” Noli just stared at him, puzzled. 7n7 simply sighed, smile still not wavering. “The coding one. Surely your code can’t be like that illegal or anything.” 7n7 snickered. Apparently Noli’s internal panic was displayed perfectly on their face because 7n7’s smile dropped for a second before widening in a way Noli wasn’t even sure was humanly possible. 

“Oh shit. It is, isn't it?” 7n7 cackled. 

“Th-That’s n0ne 0f y0ur business, y’know?” Noli defended, dragging his hands down his face. They could still hear 7n7 laughing while they buried their face further into their hands. Did he really look that much like a hacker? Perhaps a lucky guess. Yeah, it had to be a lucky guess. 7n7’s laughter slowed, but his smile was still audible with each of his words. 

“Alright dude, I’ll leave you alone.” the weight on the bed shifted, bed creaking in relief. Noli slowly removed their hands off their face, their laptop was placed next to them and 7n7 was stood stretching with his hands behind his head. 7n7 yawned before turning back to the panicked mess, who was now staring at him with a raised eyebrow. He had backed down rather quickly. 

“I mean, hey, I ain’t an admin.” 7n7 murmured, averting his eyes, “They’d take me too if I even thought of reporting you.” he snickered, his grin returning quickly to his face as he made eye contact again.  

“Can’t have them taking both of us. That’d make their job far too easy.” 

Noli just stared, shocked. Sure, he had already understood the man in front of him to be chaotic, or he at least predicted him to be. But a hacker? That went far beyond their expectations. Why was he even telling them this? They’d barely known each other for 12 hours and yet here he was, spilling a life-ending secret to a complete stranger. It was idiotic at best, detrimental at worst. Yet as he stared at the man before him, his demeanor seemed no different. There was no obvious tension in the way he stood, his devilish grin still adorned his face with sharp teeth with no hint of wavering. He seemed confident, like he knew. Knew that Noli wouldn’t report him. After all, wouldn’t reporting him just put Noli further in danger? Noli couldn’t tell if this was some advance mind game attempt, or if 7n7 truly had some sickening form of trust in a complete stranger. Either way, it was a stupid move to pull. Anybody else and 7n7 would be in the Banlands by daylight.  But Noli had something to protect, something that would keep him quiet. His freedom, or the lack of it when caught by the admins. Sure, he wouldn’t be fully caught and definitely not sent to the Banlands – he could just escape anyways – but he would be spotted. His cover blown. He’d be under even more supervision by the gods who still kept themselves from the mortal realm. He would lose all of their freedom, reduced back to the boring life of a deity. The thought made Noli’s stomach drop, the dread was overwhelming. His thoughts swirled, as they so often do in silence. Their questions remained unanswered and unspoken. What could they do? Walk up to a man they’ve just met and ask “Why’d you spill such a detrimental secret to me? Why even trust me?” That wouldn’t work. Of course it wouldn’t. 

.. ݁₊ ⊹ . ݁ ⟡ ݁ . ⊹ ₊ ݁.. 

The silence stretched across the entire room, 7n7 shifted uncomfortably under its tension. Noli was still staring ahead, hands fidgeting at his cuticles. He was clearly deep in thought, perhaps spilling that secret was too much for a first conversation. 7n7 didn’t care though, Noli had no reason to report anything to the admins – let alone even believe his story to begin with. 7n7 had never claimed himself to be a trustworthy man, at least not to Noli. For all Noli could know, 7n7 made that lie up on the spot in order to lull him into a false sense of security.  

Of course he didn’t lie. But Noli didn’t know that. There was no way for him to be sure. And now he was sat there, seemingly genuinely contemplating 7n7’s seriousness. Welp, there was no backing out now. 7n7 cleared his throat, breaking Noli out of his thoughts. 

“You’re thinking about me too much, knock it down a peg. Wouldn’t want me becoming every single one of your thoughts, would you?” 7n7 fluttered his eyelashes at the slightly startled man, who just laughed in return. “I mean I know I'm star-strikingly handsome, but it’s a bit too early for crushes, yeah?” 

“Gu3ss y-y0u're right. Y0u d0n’t need anym0re b00sts to your 3go.” Noli snickered, head resting on one of his hands. 7n7 gasped, which just received more laughter. 7n7 rolled his eyes, turning to face the door.  

“Imma grab something to eat.” 7n7 announced. “You probably need to eat too, hacker boy.”  Noli only rolled his eyes or at least made an attempt at a movement that resembled it. He had no pupils to roll on his mask, but that didn’t stop him from trying. He didn’t disagree though, so 7n7 took it as an agreement.  

“I’ll m33t y0u in the kitchen, I gu3ss.” That was good enough for 7n7, who swept out the room and into the kitchen. Yeah, his roommate wasn’t that bad. 

Chapter Text

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Noli was actually surprised they even had food to eat. In fact, he hadn’t bought any at all, still not fully used to the demands of a mortal body despite the approximate year they had spent on and off in the mortal realm. They hadn’t even noticed the deafening growling of their own stomach until 007n7 had mentioned going to the kitchen to eat. He guessed 007n7 must have heard it too, or maybe it was a lucky guess.  

It didn’t matter.  

Noli now found themself sitting off to the side at a small wooden table, the chair they were lazily sprawled on what must’ve been the top three most uncomfortable chairs of all time. Or at least in his experience and opinion. Despite the uncomfortable seat beneath him making his back ache, they found themself zoned out again – his brain simply taking advantage of the time of almost empty silence to engross himself deep within his thoughts. Most of the thoughts were about code, some about his followers, etc. Clatter echoed from the kitchen space in front of him, but Noli wasn’t really paying attention. He placed an elbow on the table, resting his head in his hand, zoned out staring at the table – imagining figures within the faint wood grain. 

Before he had even knew it, a cheap cup of noodles was placed on the table in front of him. The steam from the cup quickly warmed his face uncomfortably, stirring them out of the comfort of their imaginary scenarios abruptly. Noli reluctantly adjusted their head up – the patterns of the wood he was just studying now rudely hidden by the flimsy styrofoam cup – meeting a brief curious stare from 7n7. His display of his curiosity was almost immediately replaced with the same cocky smirk that Noli could only assume 7n7 was born wearing. 7n7 said nothing, instead just settling himself quickly in front of his own cup in a chair across the table for Noli and quickly began eating. Noli had half-expected another tease, perhaps one for having the other make his food for them or maybe even for zoning out yet again. Yet, there was no such tease. A silence had settled over them again, one almost too comfortable for two strangers to be sat in. Especially after what Noli could only assume to be 7n7’s little slip up about his own hacking career. The situation wasn’t good for either of them, yet they had both allowed a warm silence dance between. One that was almost electric with the understanding of their situations yet still welcoming and enticing. Noli found themselves relaxing within it, finally reaching out and grabbing their own cup of noodles. The noodles weren’t good per say, but they were broke college students. It would work. 

7n7 was the first to break the silence. 

“So, are you like actually a hacker or are you trying to be the hot new myth?” The question, combined with the abrupt intrusion in their silence, nearly made Noli choke. He coughed a couple of times, which simply earned them a couple of loud cackles from the other. After violently clearing his throat, Noli leaned back in their chair, placing their cup back down on the table. 

“Y0u a [Cop]?”  

“Nah, just curious man.” 7n7 threw his hands up beside his head in an act of mock defense. Noli just squinted their eyes at the man. The same man who had called them nosy was now prying into their activities. Hypocrite. Noli sighed. 

“Why w0uld I e-ev3n want to b3 0ne of th0-those?” 

“I don’t know man, they get a lot of fame.” 7n7 shrugged, turning back to his noodles. “You don’t have to answer, just curious y’know? Fame doesn’t sound too bad anyway.” 7n7 had almost whispered that last part, Noli just barely heard it. Noli raised an eyebrow.  

“Ugh y’know like having a bounty or a bunch of loyal fans.” 7n7 waved his hand in the air, as if to brush off the conversation. “Being stuck in the back of the admin’s minds... sounds thrilling as hell.” 

Noli agreed, to some extent. The idea of just his mere presence being enough to worry the admins themselves did sound fun. The chaos he would be able to unfold on them would be delicious.  

“I m3an y-yeah?” Noli shrugged. 7n7’s grin only grew at Noli’s subtle agreement, his eyes glinted with a mixture of chaos and hope. This was going to be a long year.  

“You never did answer.” Gods, he was nosy. 

“Ugh, Y3s. I’m a r3al hacker or what3ver.” Noli sighed, waving a hand around. 7n7 seemed to light up with excitement, a reaction only akin to a kid seeing Santa left presents on Christmas morning. Noli snickered at the man’s childish reaction.  

“So do you have a gui?” 7n7 asked, excitement and curiosity laced his tone.  

“N0t y3t. That’s what I w-was w0rking 0n.” Noli returned to his cup, sloppily stuffing noodles in his mouth before continuing., words muffled slightly by the food in his mouth “B3fore I was 0h-so-rudely int3ruppted.” Noli finished the cup, placing the empty warped styrofoam on the table before leaning back in the rough chair. There was silence again, neither one wanting to ask or answer the next question. Noli opted to close their eyes, arms resting behind their head. 

The silence stretched for a bit longer, the other man’s curiosity almost palpable at this point. The silence was interrupted by a soft electrical hum, causing Noli to peer one of their eyes open. A black and red tab now hovered in the air across from him, the air around it felt electric. Noli unwillingly shot up, interest now fully piqued on the small screen in front of them. 7n7 simply shifted his hand, flinging the panel to be sat right in front of Noli. The panel was lined in red, the black screen displayed multiple lines of text – all of which seemed to be quick code templates – a small bar at the top of the screen displayed its name in red arial font. C00l.gui. Noli snickered again, which only recieved a light eye roll from the hacker in front of him – his smile still firmly in place as he sipped what Noli assumed to be some kind of soda. They didn’t care to investigate; their attention was fully locked onto the panel in front of them. He clicked the home button in the bottom left corner of the screen, which promptly took him to a blank screen with a simple emoticon and a few words. 

(╭ರ_•́)  

“Who Dis?” 

“A new friend.” 7n7 responded calmly, the panel drifted towards the center of the table at the sound of his voice. as though to look at both men. As if it could hear and comprehend their words while also having its own autonomy to move. 

(˶ᵔ ᵕ ᵔ˶) 

“Oh! Okay! Haiiii new friend!” 

Noli just stared, shocked and mouth slightly agape. Yes, he was a god, but even he had never seen a normal Robloxian capable of coding something with its own consciousness. He had watched plenty of hackers throughout his time, the chaos they seemed to cause with their every waking step fueled him, but none of them had reached this level. A level of hacking that paralleled the capabilities of a god. Noli knew the hacker before him wasn’t a god, but still. A normal Robloxian shouldn’t be capable of something that so closely paralleled the creation of life. 

(¬_¬") 

“Master...He’s starring...” 

7n7 laughed, warm. “He tends to do that. I think he’s admiring you.” he responded, his words almost sounded fond. His tone almost fatherly. Like he was parenting the Gui in front of him. Like it was his kid. His new tone shook Noli out of shock. 

(,,¬﹏¬,,) 

“I think he’s weird.” 

“Am n0t!” Noli responded, the insult temporarily overriding his initial shock. There’s no way they were going to let some random floating sentient panel call him weird. 

(¬_¬) 

“Are too.” 

The two bickered for... quite a while actually. Noli’s ego was far too big to let the panel have the last word in this argument, so they just kept going. The panel simply found it fun to pick on and tease him. Like creator like creation, he thought. 7n7 spent the entire time fiddling with another panel, one he had summoned during the bickering. From the constant typing he was doing, Noli assumed he was editing some form of code. After a while of childish bickering, 7n7 dismissed the other panel and cleared his throat abruptly. The other two shut up, which caused 7n7 to laugh. Hard. Noli felt their cheeks warm. They were being stupid, why was he even arguing with a fucking floating panel to begin with? 

“Alright, I’m done with your code C00l.gui.” 7n7 finally stopped laughing, Noli had put their head in their hands at this point. This was embarrassing. 7n7 dragged the panel back over to himself, but still waiting before closing the program.  

( ˶ˆᗜˆ˵ ) 

“Thank yew!!!” 

“Of course.” 7n7 responded, the fondness returning to his voice. It was so soft, Noli barely even heard anything. Noli removed his hands from his face, looking at the two again. The panel supposedly noticed their movements, quickly changing their emoticon. 

凸( •̀_•́ )凸 

“Bai.” 

The panel disappeared, breaking down into various groups of red and black pixels that slowly faded from existence. Dramatic much? 7n7 was laughing his head off again. Noli sighed, simply defeated. He leaned back in the chair, sinking further into the seat. They would’ve preferred to melt into the floor, but that was a bit more dramatic than they wanted it to be.  

“Soooo.... What’d you think of them?” 7n7 grinned, his laughter had finally died down, though it hadn’t fully stopped. He was still giggling slightly with each of his words. He was slowly getting on Noli’s nerves. 

“Ann0ying. Reminds m3 of s0me0ne els3.” Noli sighed, placing his hands back behind their head. 7n7 just grinned wider. 

“Thanks.” 

Silence fell on the pair again. Despite Noli’s annoyance, the silence was still comfortable. They were the one to break it this time. 

“S0... h0w l0ng hav3 y0u had th-that gui?” The curiosity was eating them alive, and – despite the comfort it was granting them – the silence was only feeding that curiosity. 7n7 placed his elbow on the table, head resting in his hand as he spoke.  

“Eh since like late junior year of high school? Built it to test my coding skills and for a coding project, teachers weren’t very happy.” 7n7 scoffed, his smirk wavering slightly at the memory of his high school years. Seemed like a sore subject. Noli was about to swiftly switch subjects, but 7n7 started again.  

“Parents weren’t very thrilled when the teachers had to call home about a ‘potential danger inside and outside the school.’ Decided I was no longer their ‘golden child’ and swiftly left me in the dirt for my other siblings.” 7n7 chuckled, smirk slowly fading placed off his face. Noli had no clue why this guy was dumping his past on them so quickly, but he guessed the least he could do was listen. Not like they could swiftly escape anyways, they lived together now after all. They were kind of stuck. 

“It’s not like they were very proud of me when I came out as trans. All they did was complain about ‘losing our baby girl’ like I was dying or some shit-” 7n7 rolled his eyes, air quoting his parents. Noli froze, he could tell he wasn’t supposed to know that. That was another slip up. 7n7’s face went pale before turning bright red, stopping mid-sentence. This silence was heavy, uncomfortable, charged with dread and anxiety. 7n7 had put his head down on the table, tail wrapped around his leg. Noli sat still, not knowing how to comfort him or continue into a different conversation.  Finally, they took a deep breath and spoke up. 

“I’m a-assuming I wasn’t supp0s3d to kn0w that...” Noli nearly whispered, the air was thick.  

“Nope.” 7n7 responded, head still down. The silence stretched a bit more before someone spoke up.  

“Y0u’re just sp-spilling [[crazy]] secr3ts t0day, eh?” Noli teased, they decided jokes were likely their best way out of the heavy atmosphere. His tease received a slight snort from the other, who raised his head and placed it on top of his arms.  

“Unfortunately.” 7n7 rolled his eyes playfully, still slightly on edge. 

“Y0u’re all g00d bro. I mean I us3 [[They/Them]] t00 any-anyways. “Noli shrugged, they had accepted that fact long ago. It just felt normal to him to use both, before they even knew nonbinary was the “correct” term. “Th3re. N0w we’r3 3qual.” Noli declared, hands swiftly returning to their place behind his head. 7n7 snorted again, the tension in his body slowly fading away and the smirk returning to his face.  

“Yeah Yeah. Two secrets for the both of us.” 7n7 laughed. Noli simply grinned, they were glad the air had lightened to its previous comfort. “Now we both have two guns pointed at each other.” 

“I’d s-say B0mbs.” 7n7 looked at him with a raised eyebrow. “W3 w0uld b0th get bl0wn up, n0t just 0n3 of u-us. O-one s3cret can’t slip with0ut refl3cting back 0n y0u.” 7n7 seemed to think about it, before swiftly nodding. 

“Bombs it is then.” 7n7 smirked, fully lifting his head off his arms. His tail had unwrapped from his leg, returning to its place of hovering slightly behind him. “And I’m gonna use my bombs strategically.” His grin was devilish, Noli dreaded what the next words out of his mouth would be. There’s no way this would turn out good.  

⊹ ₊ ݁.. 

“Hack3r partn3rs?” Noli repeated – eyebrow raised, and arms crossed across his chest. “Dud3, w3 bar3ly kn-kn0w each 0ther.” 7n7 simply nodded, grinning wildly. 

“I mean like a trial! A test drive. This Friday.” 7n7 reasoned, Noli kept starring. Skeptical, yes. But that didn’t make them any less tempted. Chaos was his thing after all, and there sure as hell would be some if they went. There’s no way Noli could say no, no matter what the logical side of him insisted of them. “That is, if you can get your gui up in time.”  

“5 d-days is pl3nty.” 

7n7 responded with a simple hum, yet it was filled with the same teasing nature Noli had already become accustomed to.  

“We’ll see what the week brings.” With that comment, 7n7 rose from his chair and threw his long-forgotten cup away. “I’m going to bed.” 7n7 turned towards their shared bedroom, starting his brief walk down the hallway. 

“M-Mkay.” Noli heard the door close. They were going to bed soon as well, it was late – probably around 1 am at this point – but he stared at the table again. What had they just agreed to? This was going to blow up in their face, he knew that for a fact. Yet some part of him wondered if it was possible for these metaphorical bombs that he now consciously held had some worth. Some silver lining.   

It was far too late for that kind of thinking. Noli stood, bones popping, and threw their trash away. His tiredness hit him all at once, their eye lids growing heavy with the desire for sleep. This was going to be a long week. 

Chapter Text

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The week had passed by extremely slowly. It was as though time itself was stretching just enough to extend the miserable suffering of already weighed-down college students. Seconds felt like minutes, minutes like hours. Hour-long lectures felt like three. Mixed with the hotter than usual temperatures, the week was nothing short of exhausting. Despite the entirety of Robloxia’s seemingly warped sense of time, it was only Thursday. 

Noli had draped themselves face-down on top of their bed, careful not to touch a single blanket, even with a 10-foot pole. His laptop had long been discarded next to them, homework documents dancing and teasing him with their presence on the screen. Giving homework on the first week should be criminal, he figured. The air conditioner lazily hung in the room struggled to cool the heat, as though constantly threatening to stop at any minute.  

Seriously, why was it so hot in September?  

The threat was effective, at the very least. Humidity hung in the air of the room, making their skin feel sticky and everything uncomfortable. Sure, he was never fond of the frigid temperatures that etched itself into every hall of his temple, but the cold was easier to combat. Layers can be added but there’s only so many you can remove before it doesn’t help anymore. 

 He thought he would’ve enjoyed the heat, now they almost felt tempted to cut their vacation short. To run back to the comforting cold that laced itself throughout his body. Noli was sure their followers wouldn’t be against an earlier-than-planned visit back. In fact, they likely would’ve rejoiced, even if his only reason for returning was to escape the uncomfortable humidity that clung to his skin and hair. Surely it would benefit them more than it would hurt. 

Noli was slowly convincing himself, their desire to escape the heat overriding the possible questions that would result from his roommate, when a sudden bang rang throughout the room. Noli jolted his head up towards the door, only to see it open with an exhausted 7n7 standing in the doorway. 7n7 shuffled to his bed before flopping down onto it, aggressively kicking the blankets off the edge onto the floor. Noli sat up, crossing his legs, and leaning forward, resting their head on their hands.  

“R0ugh d-day?” Noli asked, head cocked to the side and smirk planted on his mask. 7n7 only groaned, muffled by the pillow he now had his head buried in. 7n7’s bag lay forgotten beside him, draped dangerously near the edge of the bed. Noli’s smirk fell, of course he wouldn't be in the mood for conversation, he was likely as drained as Noli was.  

Noli sighed, reaching for his laptop and placing it back on their legs. They leaned back, laying against the cool wall. They reluctantly turned their attention back to the several assignments he needed to complete. He quickly closed the documents, not wanting to spare a glance at them, and instead defaulting back to working on his gui. 

 The code was “complete”; all the lines needed were there, but it refused to function. Noli pressed the run button, a few black and purple pixels fluttered to life in front of him before promptly fizzling out. Noli exhaled, dragging their hands down their face. He had spent days on this, the code had been completed ages ago, and yet there was still some form of an error. Their dreams were haunted by coding lines. His eyes burned daily from the bright screen and the significant amount of squinting they had been doing. His sleep schedule had become practically nonexistent with the combination of school assignments and trying to decode their errors. Surely it couldn’t take that long now, he had narrowed down to a specific section of code to be causing the problems last night. It would likely only take at most another hour. Noli stretched, elbows cracking, and returning to the computer screen. 

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The dreadful mixture of the sticky hot air and his ever-growing annoyance towards the computer screen in front of him only made them more miserable. Noli closed their eyes, attempting to clear their mind. After a few barely deep enough breaths, Noli opened their eyes and nearly jumped through the wall behind them.  7n7 was standing in front of them, curiously looking at the laptop that had been discarded off Noli’s lap ages ago. He was bent over slightly, tail swaying lazily behind him as he seemingly scanned the code. 7n7 seemed unaware of the near-heart attack Noli just had, continuing to scroll through the code methodically.  

Noli dramatically coughed, purposefully catching 7n7’s attention. 7n7 hummed in acknowledgement, almost as if requesting Noli to start speaking while keeping his gaze completely set on the lines in front of him. 

“Wh-Whatcha d0in’?” Noli asked, head resting in his hands again. 7n7 still didn’t look towards the other. He just continued to scroll through the seemingly never-ending onslaught of code. 

“Mm, checking your code.” 7n7 responded unbothered, “Y’know, you use some ancient ass coding language. I mean, seriously, who even uses this anymore?” 

“I d0.” 

“I don’t understand why. I mean, we’ve got easier code languages now.” 7n7 highlighted a word with the mouse, before quickly typing in something new with the keyboard. Noli snatched their laptop back, placing it back in their lap. 

“C-Cause it’s what I-I understand. Gr3w up 0n it.” Noli shrugged, “The 0lder the c0de, the m0re un3xpected.” Noli hurriedly reasoned, hoping it would be enough to shove 7n7 off his back. 7n7 just cocked his head, standing back up.  

“You’ve gotta be old as shit then.” 7n7 smirked, tail still swaying slowly behind him.  

“W-what?” Noli stuttered, slightly offended at how accurate 7n7 could get with his predictions. “I a-am n0t.” 

7n7 scoffed, deciding to swiftly sit down next to Noli. “Mkay, whatever man. Do you need my help or not?”  

“Can y0u 3ven r3ad it?” 

“Better than you can apparently.” 7n7 retorted, playfulness lacing his words. 7n7 quickly snatched the laptop back from Noli, who was still shocked at the audacity of this man. “I’ve only read like 20 lines, and I’ve seen, what, like 10 spelling errors?” Noli scoffed, which 7n7 only returned with another playful hum. Noli hated how much 7n7 invaded their space, sitting on their bed and snatching their personal laptop? Noli felt as though they had every reason to push him off the bed, to yell at him, to make him back off, yet they didn’t. 

 It wasn’t because of the “leverage” 7n7 held over them; they had known since that first night that truthfully that information held no value, Noli could simply return to his mellow life as a god and return with a new disguise if admins were hot on their trail. The sword Noli held over 7n7’s held was sharper, held more weight and purpose, yet Noli had no reason to use it. Snitching over something this minuet, while it would end in a significant amount of chaos for them to watch, would do nothing more than ruin a perfect opportunity. Keeping 7n7 around and active had more pros than cons, though 7n7 seemed to already consider Noli as some sort of friend.  

They barely knew each other and yet, 7n7 ranted about his professors – many of whom they shared – joked and teased, and hung around Noli as though they had known each other for years. He chose to sit next to Noli during their shared lectures, despite seemingly having other friends in the class. Noli couldn't tell if it was genuine or simply out of pity, since Noli really had no friends within his major. They had friends, all of which were about a year older than him and 7n7, but they were friends either way. Noli had known and talked to them for at least a month before considering them anything more than a “frequent acquaintance”, and yet 7n7 had gotten so close to him in such a short period of time that he was willingly fixing his code. 7n7’s attachment was fast and shocking, yet Noli couldn’t truly say they minded. Of course, they were still annoyed at how easily and often 7n7 found himself invading their personal space, but he couldn’t say it wasn’t entertaining as hell. 

Noli was jolted back by the feeling of his laptop being tossed onto their lap. They blinked slowly, trying to fully process what was happening – his brain often took a while after such sudden jolts out of deep thought. He looked over at 7n7 who was now leaning against the wall beside them, arms crossed behind his head smugly.  

“Try it now.” 7n7 said, his cock smirk plastered across his face like it always was.  

Noli, still a little shaken, turned back to the laptop now in their lap. He slowly pressed the large “Run Code” button, not really expecting much more than standard fizzle of small particles. The air in front of them danced with black particles lined with a bright purple – his own special color choice. The particles merged quickly into a large panel that now hovered only inches away from their face. The panel was blank, no sentient conversation that 7n7’s seemed to have regular. 

Noli reached out, tapping the screen lightly. The screen reacted almost immediately, lighting up a panel of preset code options. 7n7 just grinned, silently watching from the side before speaking up.  

“You know, you had all the code. Might wanna work on your spelling though...” Noli rolled his eyes – well more rolled his head – and continued to fiddle with the panel hovering in front of him. He knew he had all the code right; they were literally a god after all. They knew how to create, but they tended to write and type faster than their brain could spell sometimes. It was a habit his followers had even picked up on in some of their many books. Spelling errors were something he was used to overlooking when rereading his work, of course they would miss them. You would think they would learn better after such a lengthy existence.  

Noli continued their examination of the panel. It looked almost identical to 7n7’s - exactly how they planned – except for the color choice and name displayed. Void.gui. It wasn’t the most creative they could’ve been, but the competition didn’t seem very strong anyways. The name “c00l.gui” still made him snicker from time to time. 

“Are you just gonna stare at it all night?” 7n7 had gotten off the bed, stretching his arms above his head. Seriously, this guy was stealthy as hell sometimes. “Use it or put it away or something.” His words were muffled with a yawn. 

“How d0 I 3ven d-do that?” 

“Click the X, it’ll do the rest.” 7n7 had turned around, waving his hand over his shoulder. “Imma go shower.” 

Noli only hummed in acknowledgement, turning back to face the panel. It seemed to hover around his right hand, almost as if it was attached to his wrist by an invisible string. It was completely flat, no buttons at all, and seemed to glow softly. His bed danced with the purple light from the panel and the yellow light from the window.  

After a long period of time of him just examining the panel and its tabs, Noli decided to close it. He gently tapped the X in the top right corner. The panel fizzled out into a group of pixels that hovered ever so slightly in the air. The pixels moved towards his hand, slowly combining around his right middle finger. Within seconds, a black ring adorned his hand. They shifted their hand, the ring shining purple at certain angles. They stared at the ring, when the opening of the door caught his attention again. 7n7 walked back into the room, towel still in hand as he dried his hair. He must’ve noticed the lack of the floating purple panel, because he made his way back over to Noli. 

“Closed it already? No test run?”  

“N0pe, t00 tir3d.” 

“Lame.” 7n7 exhaled, shrugging his shoulders. “I mean, you’ll use it tomorrow I guess.” He sounded almost disappointed, like he had expected Noli to run off and exploit some random building that evening. Noli shrugged it off, he would have plenty of time to use. Truthfully, he would’ve used it in a heartbeat, but his assignments had to take some priority; the deadlines were stricter this year. 

Noli hummed, still looking at the ring. If his had turned into a ring, did 7n7 have one too? 7n7 never wore a ring, so where was his gui? He guessed it had to be one of the seemingly endless amounts of bracelets 7n7 wore daily. He swore there were new bracelets every day. They had to take forever to put on every day. 

“Alright then.” 7n7 exhaled, throwing his towel into the hamper beside his bed. “Ugh, why did the professors give so much work? It’s the first fucking week for Telamon’s sake...” He made his way to his bed as he mumbled about his strict professors, grabbing his respective laptop out of his bag. Laying down, 7n7 propped his laptop on top of his bent legs. Noli simply turned back to his computer, swiftly minimizing his code and opening a new document. The half-finished assignment stared back at him. He did not have the patience to do any of this, but it had to be done. It’s not like he could get it done tomorrow night; he already had plans. 

“I d0n’t kn0w m-man.” Noli slouched slightly at the reminder of the work they needed to do.  “I think th3y want us d3ad.” It was half true, it did feel like they wanted them to burn out before the year even started. 7n7 only chuckled. 

“You can say that again.” 7n7 smirked, before burying his face into his respective screen. Noli sighed, no longer having any distractions from his responsibilities. Forced to do the work they signed up to do, truly horrifying. They slowly began typing, they couldn’t put off the work forever. Better now than never. 

Chapter Text

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The lock clicked; the door to the dorm slammed open. The loud bang was laced with annoyance and exhaustion with a slight sigh of relief. It was Friday, after all. Lectures for the week were finally over, but the professors were far from kind about the work they sent home with their students. Noli slugged himself through the door, closing it swiftly behind them with their foot. His muscles ached, but he couldn’t tell if it was from a long day or the horrifically stiff mattress the school expected them to rest well on. Perhaps a mixture of the two evils. They slipped their shoes off at the entrance, a forming habit that had been brought on by 7n7, before making their way sluggishly to their bed. He flung his bag onto the dangerously stiff bed, taking a second to lazily stretch while still standing.

The dorm was suspiciously quiet; something Noli only half-noted in their exhaustion. 7n7 was supposed to get home before them, or at least that’s what he had told Noli that morning. Now, however, there was a significant lack of noise that seemed to accompany 7n7 everywhere he went, including their shared dorm. Noli couldn’t remember a single time 7n7 was actually silent other than when he was dead asleep, which barely even counted because the man occasionally talked in his sleep. It would have been overwhelming if Noli wasn’t so desperate to not be in the deafening silence that danced around his temple. They had gotten their wish of noise and chaos, just in a way they hadn’t quite expected. A full mortal. One that seemed to drag chaos with his ever step, even if he meant it or not. Noli almost considered it a perfect match, though that was far too corny and “mortal” for his liking. Besides, they barely knew each other. It hadn’t even been a week since they first met.

And yet, Noli couldn’t help but feel a slight longing for something to fill the etching silence that incased the room. It was almost like they had already gotten used to the mortal’s noisy presence. It almost felt like the noise belonged there.

Gross.

Noli cringed at himself. Not even a week in, and he was already starting to sound like one of those cringy movies that high school mortals seemed to adore. He barely even knew the guy and yet he, a god, allowed himself to get comfortable around a mortal so quickly. They sighed, finally breaking the silence in the shared bedroom.

For a while, his sigh was the only new noise to echo throughout the room, accompanied only by the aged creaking of the AC and ticking clock. The silence started to settle again when an electronic fizzle sounded right behind them. It was almost as if it was on cue. Noli slowly turned around, now face-to-face with a grinning 7n7.

“Boo.” 7n7 was hovering slightly; he was using his gui which would’ve explained the electrical whirl that had echoed throughout the room.

“Y0u’re n0t scary man.”

“Mmmm, not trying to be.” 7n7 smugly leaned back in the air, crossing his legs as if he was simply reclining in a chair and not suspiciously hovering about 4 feet off the ground. Noli just sighed.

“Why ar3 y0u ev3n fl0ating?” Noli pressed, “Th3 sch00l pr0bably h-has track3rs.” 7n7 just sighed, as though he wasn’t inherently risking both their enrollments in this school and their safety from the admins. He was treating Noli’s concern like a teenager would treat their helicopter mom.

“They don’t. Already checked.”

“Mkay.” Noli hesitated before quickly adding, “But if y0u g3t caught, I’m n0t taking a-any blam3.”

“Fair.” 7n7 shrugged, grin still plastered devilishly across his face. 7n7 was now floating around in lazy circles, not even trying to hide his enjoyment in every second of Noli’s slight annoyance. Noli brushed off the slight relief they felt; the noise had returned and shaken them out of their rambling thoughts once again. The noise always came back. And that thought was oddly comforting.

Pathetic.

“Sooooooo” 7n7 started again in a sing-song tone, he had stopped his lazy circles and was floating in front of Noli again. “Are you ready?”

“H-Huh?”

7n7 looked slightly disappointed at their response, his tail dropping slightly lower but still swaying.

“For tonight? Y’know, the hacking you agreed to?” 7n7 breathed; he seemed slightly annoyed at the possibility that Noli could’ve forgotten their plans. Noli hadn’t, how could he? They were looking forward to it, although they would never admit that out loud.

“I didn’t take you for a dementia patient, Noli.” 7n7 teased.

“Didn’t f0rget.” Noli stated, though the other didn’t seem fully convinced. Noli just sighed, turning back to their bed to dig through their bag. 7n7 floated over beside them, deciding to remain in the air rather than the perfectly functional bed he normally draped across.

“You’re no fun, Nols.” 7n7 huffed. The nickname had startled Noli slightly. It had flowed so easily out of 7n7’s mouth, but it was odd for them to hear. Noli brushed it off, grabbing their laptop out of their bag.

“It’s a little 3arly t0, y’kn0w, c0mmit crim3s.”

“Loser.” 7n7 scoffed, arms crossed across his chest. He returned back to his lazy circles through the air while Noli attempted to ignore him, focusing on the pile of work their professors had handed out. Seriously, this had to be a human rights violation. Why had they willingly committed to going to college of all places.

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It had only been about an hour since Noli had gotten back to the dorm, but it had felt more like 4. The mixture of achingly boring school documents and 7n7’s occasional dramatic sigh only made it feel longer. Noli was slowly starting to regret refusing to hack so early, anything was better than the tedious schoolwork he was now nose deep in. They had willingly enrolled in college to create and witness chaos, not deny it and write 4 pages of code in their free time. Noli groaned, closing the laptop before placing it down on the bed beside them. 7n7, who was still floating lazy circles, looked up at them curiously.

“Fuck it. I’m b0r3d.” Noli sighed, standing up from off their bed. 7n7 shot up, darting in front of Noli. Noli didn’t even flinch; 7n7 was almost always in his personal bubble like this.

“Soooo that's a ‘let's do it’?” 7n7 grinned, all his dramtic boredom he had been displaying for the past hour dissipated with a simple 4 words. His tail swayed with excitement behind him. Noli hummed in agreement; which was apparently not enough for the king of excitement that floated before them, who cocked his head.

“You’re lame.”

“N-nuh uh.”

“Yep. C00lgui agrees with me.” The panel fizzled to life beside 7n7, the red light illuminating his hand slightly. The screen simply said:

(๑•̀؂ <๑)✧

“Yep. A loser.”

Noli rolled his eyes; he clearly wasn’t going to get anywhere with either of them. C00lgui didn’t like him anyways, of course it would agree with 7n7.

“What3v3r S3v. Ar3 w3 g0ing or n0t?” Noli pressed; the other shut up quickly, though they couldn’t tell if it was from the clear annoyance in their voice or the sudden nickname.

“Uh yep.” 7n7 stammered. Noli snickered; their teasing had worked well. 7n7 dropped down to the floor, finally putting an end to his floating. Noli held his hand out in front of him, his gui casually fizzing to life above it. The slight purple glow etching its way across their hand and arm. The teleport code was already staring at them, waiting only for coordinates. After swiftly typing in the exact coordinates, Noli gently pressed the Run button. The world around him responded quickly, whirling and spinning around them.

Within an instant, the two hackers were standing in the parking lot in front of a large red building. The sign hung above the doors simply read “Builder Brothers’ Pizza.” The shop didn’t seem busy, but it wasn’t completely empty. Noli looked away from the building, glancing over to 7n7 who now had a panel covering his face like a mask. Noli slipped his hood over his head, letting it cast a shadow over his mask. They weren’t as worried about getting recognized as 7n7 seemed to be, but they decided to at least look like they cared. The panel covering 7n7’s face displayed a simple emoticon as he spoke, not nearly as complex as the ones the c00lgui used but still effective in showing his emotions.

“Time to have some fun ;) “

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Noli could feel the warmth of the fire that now danced across the red pizza place. The two hackers had decided to float above the chaos, watching people scurry away from the building and some even screaming. Noli watched the crowd with curiosity, though truthfully all of the Robloxians were acting the same. All of them run around like chickens without a head, wondering what to do. All of them but one.

A Robloxian was standing perfectly still in the middle of the lot; arms crossed and seemingly staring directly at the two hackers. The light of the fire danced off their yellow skin and messy curly hair. Their red polo shirt and visor proclaimed their employment to the now burning establishment. 7n7 also noticed the individual, but instead of looking on with uncomfortable curiosity like Noli, 7n7 only seemed to get more excited. 7n7 floated over to the employee, Noli following curiously behind.

“Pizza Boy! :D“ 7n7 exclaimed, floating far enough down to converse but still far enough to make the employee look up when talking. The employee only glared at the hacker; arms still crossed across his chest.

“I didn’t know you would be working today, must be fate, eh? XD “

“I work every day, Seven.” The employee responded, voice slick with annoyance and anger. “You know that.”

“Mmmm...do I? :)“ 7n7 reclined in the air again, tail swaying behind him. The employee’s glare only grew stronger. 7n7 just threw his hands up in the air in mock surrender. “Okay, okay. Sorry, Pizza Boy. ;D “

The employee just sighed before making direct contact with Noli, who had just been observing the conversation. The employee raised an eyebrow; the annoyance in his eyes briefly replaced with genuine curiosity.

“Who’s that?” He asked, gesturing his head slightly towards Noli. Noli just relaxed in the air, arms in their hoodie pockets. 7n7 spoke up before Noli could.

“Ah that’s my Partner in Crime! XD”

“That’s 0ne way t0 say y0u dragg3d m3 her3.“ Noli snickered, 7n7 just huffed.

“Let me do my dramatics! >:(”

The two hackers began bickering, all light-hearted but quite annoying. The employee just watched exhausted, clearly over the two hackers’ bickering.

“If you two are just going to argue, I’ll take my leave.” The employee said, hands placed on his hips.

“That would be no fun though. :(“

“I don’t care about your crude fun, Seven. Do I need to remind you that you burn my job to ground regularly?” The employee squinted. 7n7 just sighed dramatically.

“You’re no fun Pizza Boy. :(" The employee rolled his eyes.

“And seriously? What’s with you and the childish nicknames.” The employee was clearly fed up with 7n7’s behavior. Noli could only assume the multiple regular visits he had mentioned only made 7n7 more annoying. They couldn’t argue that 7n7 wasn’t annoying; they just found him more entertaining than anything. 7n7 just snickered at the man, who was ranting about how crude and exhausting 7n7 could be. Noli assumed they had probably known each other for much longer than they had originally assumed.

“Oh, would you look at the time! We’ll get out of your hair, Elliot. ;) “ 7n7 teased, his panel king its place in front of his hand again. Noli swiftly followed his lead, both pressing their return teleport codes.

“Bye Bye Pizza Boy! XD”

Within an instant, they were both gone, leaving Elliot alone in the chaotic parking lot. The fire still danced and crackled; the crowd still ran around with concern and fear. Elliot groaned, dragging his hands down his face, before turning back to calm down the customers. Why did this always have to happen to him? He reluctantly turned back to the still-burning building; his father wasn’t going to be very happy that he let those hackers come back. Elliot sighed, only more work for him.