Work Text:
Vega still hasn't gotten used to the sheer silence of the backstage. Usually, in an area as large as this, they would hear hollering and shouting from everywhere around her. But here, where what goes behind the screen stays secret, Vega flinches at the tiniest noise. It may just be the paranoia, or it may just be the fact that most of the contestants here like to stay quiet.
Well, except that Nonsensical Jokester.
Vega descends the halls with one goal in mind, one with the importance that makes him even more jittery whenever something happens. Her eyes scan through the rooms as she passes by, feet tapping against the carpeted floors. The white noise of the building only adds to the paranoia more.
It's too quiet here, they decide, briskly walking by the painted depictions of executions. He doesn't hear the faint laugh behind him as the boy in bunny ears sneaks up on him without warning.
"Boo!" It shrieks, a shrill giggle escaping from its mouth. Vega convulses, spinning around to face Elise. They gyrate so quickly, their already-drooping glasses almost fall off of their face, only stopped by a hand that pushes the spectacles back up. To say Vegas flinched would be an understatement.
Elise snorts, before eyeing the crumpled ball of parchment clenched in the cosmologist's hands, hand flying towards their mouth. He grins wider. "Oooo! Care to share with the class?" They practically dive for the paper.
Vega, thankfully, is faster than Elise, and snatches it away before he can get it first. She eyes the bunny-eared criminal with a piercing glare, before swiftly whirling around and walking the other way. They do not have the time or the patience for this. Not when... when...
Not when it was-
Oh. Oh wow, he got to the confessional quickly. They didn't even realize they had been walking that way, lost in their thoughts. Vega throws a glance over her shoulder, making sure nobody saw her, before pushing the curtain aside and stepping into the confessional. The secluded area was something Vega appreciated- if they had to recite their speech on stage in front of 12 other people, they'd probably get made fun of, by Poppy, probably, Elise and Benny too.
The piece of paper, previously crumpled in her hand, comes to life as the cosmologist exhales quickly, unfurling the paper and scanning the words scrawled on it. It was fate that he found a pencil and paper, he thinks. Haha. Fate.
The confessional, Vega presumes, is supposed to model confessionals in a church- not like they'd ever been in one, though.
She doesn't notice how the camera has been recording since she opened the curtain door.
"... Happy birthday, Fate," he starts off, muttering quietly. Reading the speech, they internally cringe at their lack of making it good. It's really cheesy and bad. Well, thankfully the camera isn't recording, she thinks.
"I've, uh... Missed you." Their gaze casts to the floor, at their feet. He averts it to look back at the paper, at their messy, unreadable scrawl. "We were partners in crime, kind of."
And that's when she chooses to look up, right at the big red glowing dot on the camera.
Vega's eyes widen, then slowly look down at the paper. He hasn't read at least a fifth of his private speech- well, it was supposed to be private. They sigh sharply. They can't back out now.
...maybe she's watching. Fate.
The silence is deafening, and it stays that way for a few seconds before the prisoner opens her mouth again. "It's probably your birthday today. Uh. If it isn't... sorry. But... I was planning to do this on your birthday, Fate. Uh... yeah."
Fuck why did they do this.
Vega is talking to his feet now, the tips of his ears warming up. "I sometimes wish you were here, too," he gulps, looking anywhere but at the camera. God, there's people out there who are going to watch this. Maybe even someone he knows. Maybe Fate themself. "We could be together here. Like. Y'know. Together forever...?"
Well, now he's not even reading the script. |They're just spouting genuine bullshit.
She feels so sorry to the people watching this. Or, maybe, he'll get actual fans.
Who is she kidding. They'll just hate them more.