Glossary
RP/RPC: Role play/role play chat. Participants each pick a character and write that character's part of the story.
OOC: Out of character. Marks any comments from the author, not the character
IRL: In "real" life
Askdkskdiiejrnb;&:$1?2!!!: Exclamation of  intense fangirl excitement

> planes are boring somebody entertain me pls

This rat! I offered to tweet him, and he declined, and now here he is on his private account asking for entertainment.

+ Entertain yourself. No, wait, entertain /me/.

> Look who's back from the dead!! Have you heard the news?

+ ???

> Mitch. In a gondola. In Venice... with Scott. Askdkskdiiejrnb;&:$1?2!!!

+ Pics?

> Nobody got any :c Ugh, it's probably not even true, is it? I'm just a sad, desperate fangirl.

+ Even now? After three years?

> I know they're hopeless IRL, but the beautiful thing about shipping is that reality only matters when it's convenient.

Don't say that.

+ They're not hopeless. They're soulmates.

> Yeah, that's what I thought too.

+ Scott...

> Huh?

+ Nvm.

> I'm so confused.

+ We're not hopeless. We'll figure it out.

> Are you suggesting we lock them in a room together until they kiss?

+ Hold up, I'm not talking about that. We just need to be friends again.

> Idgi. Who's "we?"

Here goes.

+ Us. Scömìche.

> We're Scömìche? And I'm Scott? Lol, okay. Like a role play chat?

So much for revealing my secret identity. Another message pops up in my direct messages a moment later.

> I haven't done a RPC since Neopets. This is weird. In a cool way.
> Nostalgic.

What a nerd. This is gonna be interesting.

> What's the setting?

+ Pentatonix broke up recently. We're at the frat house.

> Okay. Scott comes home from the gym. He's shirtless and glistening with sweat.

+ OOC/ Are you kidding me??? I could be nine for all you know!

> Scott comes home from the gym. He's fully-clothed and kind of smelly.

+ Mitch smiles. "How's it going?" It's good to see Scott active. He just wants him to be happy again. He's not expecting much of a response, though.

> Scott only left because he didn't want to be at home. He knows everyone's sick of him being sad all the time.
+ He just can't understand how they all seem to be over it already. It feels like Pentatonix was his soul, and without it, there's no reason to do anything. Nothing is worthwhile.

+ OOC/ Do you write? You're good at this.

> OOC/ I'm blushing.
> Exercise used to help, but it's not that easy to turn his mood around anymore. Scott had hoped to make it back to his room unnoticed, but he's not that lucky. "Good," he answers, hoping Mitch will leave him alone just this once, but knowing it's not even remotely possible.

I'm sad. He's right; there's no way I would have left him alone if he was behaving like that.

+ Mitch knew that wasn't any kind of answer, or any kind of true. "Scott..." He just wanted to talk to Scott again. He missed him.

> OOC/ Pick a tense

Wow, okay, Shakespeare. I didn't realize our DM RP had such high grammatical standards.

+ He wants him to be happy. "Talk to me... What's wrong?"

> "Nothing." Nothing Mitch doesn't already know about. Pentatonix is over and Scott is a failure and he's never going to be as happy or as successful again, but all of that is obvious.

+ "Come on, Scott. It's not so bad." It's not, for Mitch. It doesn't trouble him as much as the fact that his best friend won't talk to him.
+ OOC/ This is sad. I can't believe I'm writing this.

> OOC/ I can fix that.
> And then they kiss and make up the end all better now yay!!

+ Wow. What an adventure.
+ Why do they always have to kiss at the end?

> It doesn't *always* end with a kiss, but, as you say, you could be 9 for all I know, so I'll leave it at that.

+ Not what I meant! Can't they just be friends?

> They tried.

+ And it was great for 18 years.

> Maybe I'm crazy to want more from them. You can't make someone like you.

+ They can be friends, though, right?

Please say yes. Please say yes. Please say yes.

> Scott hasn't dated anyone since Mitch left. I don't think he's even looked at anyone.

We wrecked him, Alex and I. I knew he hadn't dated anyone publicly, but I had hoped he was just keeping his personal life close to his chest.

+ You can't really say the same of Mitch, though.

> She's looking for something.

+ And you think that's Scott?

I was looking for comfort when I started talking to Alex, and distraction when I went to him, and distraction was all I got from anyone after him.

> I know Mitch is out of Scott's league, but you're the one who said they're soulmates.

+ Platonic soulmates. Not because he's out of his league, though.

> Because Scott's unworthy in every way? Yeah, there's that too.

+ Hey, I get that you're defensive of Mitch, but take it easy on Scott. He's precious.

Precious. I remember being called precious. It always made me feel better.

> He's got a lot to answer for.

+ Yeah, and so does Mitch. They'll figure it out. It's gotta suck for them, not having their best friends.

> Again with the "friends." Just let me have my sunken ship.

He still hasn't answered my question.

+ Is it possible, though? For them to be friends again?

> After everything, it wouldn't be easy. Possible, though? I don't know. You'd have to ask them.

That's really not what I was hoping to hear. Maybe it's futile trying to get back what we had. Maybe friendship isn't enough to overcome this. Maybe we pushed each other away too hard. We both did and said things to ensure we could never be friends again.

Maybe... I don't know. It's probably stupid. Life isn't a fairy tale. But maybe I don't have to try to get back exactly what we had. Maybe there's an easier way.

+ Do you think Mitch likes Scott?

> I think Mitch likes whoever's closest at the moment.

I've certainly been acting like it, and if Scott talked to Baz, he probably knows. It still hurts to hear him say it. It feels unfair. Maybe it's not harsh enough, though. I don't like whoever's closest. I don't have to like someone to bat my eyes in his direction, get him to buy me a drink, get him to take my mind elsewhere.

+ What about Scott? Does he like Mitch?

> Is the sun warm? Is the ocean kind of damp?

+ I'll take that as a yes?

> Clearly they have issues and all, but Scott does a whole lot more than just "like" Mitch.

What am I supposed to do with that? It would be nice for me to fall in love with someone at the same time they fall in love with me for a change. Someone who's not surrounded by drama would be great too.

+ Maybe you're right. Maybe they should just kiss and make up and live happily ever after.

I don't have to like a man to kiss him. This is Scott, though. He'll know if I'm faking it.

Or will he?

He didn't last time. I told him it wasn't real, and he still thought it meant something.

What if he was right?

No. It was more meaningful than I meant for it to be, but not because we kissed. Yeah, that part was kind of hot, but it was supposed to be. A boring kiss wouldn't have served my purposes at all. It still didn't mean any more than kissing Val.

I honestly probably could fool Scott up to a point. There would be no happy ending, though. I'd have to try to mean it. Do I really want that?

I want someone. And Scott wants me. It makes sense... Like he says, though, he's a mess. If I can choose who I give my heart to, is he really the best option? I'm probably best off keeping my heart to myself.

But I don't want to lose him. I guess that makes it easy to decide. If I can fall in love with a slug, I can fall in love with Scott Hoying, right?