Stealth. (FtM Karl)

Witness

Recap: Karl and George play minecraft together, but when Karl's dad arrives back home, Karl is yelled at my him, he's very transphobic and blames it on technology. Karl tries fighting back but is immediately shut down. His dad takes his phone and PC, cutting the call with George who he forgot was listening.

Trigger warning:
-transphobic parent
-shouting
-outing

(Same as last chapter but in George's pov. So same recap as at top of page.)

George's pov:

I laughed with Karl as we played minecraft, I am so glad I asked for his discord. Karl was a really cool guy, and I hoped to only grow closer to him, maybe even become friends.
If he didn't consider us friends already of course.

I screamed jokingly, "no! Karl! Nonono! Karl! I only have half a heart left! Please have mercy!" I laughed, running away from him in the game.
Karl couldn't even get any full words out as he laughed so hard he was wheezing a bit.
His reaction caused me to hand a similar laughing fit.

It was so fun playing with him. His presence was enough to make someone smile, and he seemed so happy getting into the game.
His laugh was somewhat soothing.

After our laughter had died down, I was about to speak again when I heard some loud noises coming from Karl's side of the call. Before I could even ask what they were I was once again prevented from doing so by yet another sound, a sounds so powerful and sudden it made me jump.
"Woah, you alright?" I chuckled slightly, assuming maybe something fell or he himself had called off of his chair.
But no response.

"Well, that was just unnecessary" I heard Karl say.
"Huh? What? What do you mean?" I asked, assuming he was talking to me.

"Well it caught your attention didn't it?" An unfamiliar voice replied, 'huh? Who's that? Is that Karl's dad maybe?' I assumed, his voice made me nervous, he sounded so... evil?

"phone. Now" he ordered, his voice stern, I was growing worried, 'what did Karl do? Is he in trouble? Did he do something wrong?' I asked myself. He must've taken his headphones off because he didn't seem to be able to hear me.

Karl sounded outraged, "excuse you?" He scoffed.
"I said. Phone. Now." The man growled.

There was silence for a moment, I assumed that meant Karl was currently passing his phone to him. I was so confused. I felt so helpless, Karl couldn't hear me and all I could do was sit and wait till he returned so I could make sure he was alright.
A part of me thought I should've left, but what if he was expecting me to still be there after? It seemed quite personal, but I assumed that if he didn't want me to hear, then he would've hung up right?
...right?

"When do I get it back?" Karl asked, breaking the agonising silence.
"Possibly never." The man I presumed was his father replied, "only when you give up on this pathetic fantasy of yours."

'Huh? Fantasy?'

"what?" Karl spat, clearly sounding pissed.

"You heard." His father replied, coldly "it's clearly because of your unrestricted access to the internet that you are delusional."

My eyes widened in shock, I had no idea what was happening but it was clear that something had happened that he didn't know about, unable to fill in the gaps himself, the way the fathers words were phrased implied that Karl was probably the one in the right.
I mean, it's Karl.
What could he possibly have done wrong?

"are you actually serious right now?!" He snapped at him, it was obvious that he didn't believe this arrangement was fair,
"you're the one who's honking delusional! Why can't you just accept who I am and get over yourself-"
"Don't you fucking raise your voice at me, young lady!" The man interrupted, I could only stare at my screen in shock, all I could see was Karl's unmoving minecraft skin, but I was so busy focusing on what I was currently hearing to even care if I was attacked by a mob or not.

'Why are they getting so worked up?' I asked, though a few certain words had caught my attention, 'accept who I am? Young lady? I don't understand. Maybe I misheard.' I determined, I was too distracted by the silence. The tension so thick I could feel it as if I were standing in Karl's position.
'Poor Karl, I hope he's okay.' I frowned, 'his father sounds like an asshole.'

"You never try to fight with me, so spoilt, you are starting to believe you can do anything you want now. Teenagers." He muttered the last part, scolding Karl.
'What the hell? Is he seriously telling him off just for standing up for himself?' I asked, shocked, I was silently rooting for Karl to talk back again, avenge his previous confidence. But I knew it probably wouldn't end well, and judging by the lack of communication from said brunette, he did too.

"and on that note, I'm also taking your PC."

And those were the last words I heard from the call before hearing the sound of him disconnecting from it.
I snapped out of my daze and immediately saw the message appear in the corner of my screen.

Karl left the game.

"The hell?" I whispered, "Karl? You still there? Hello?"

Nothing.

I clicked onto discord, he was offline, "did his dad seriously take his PC?" I asked aloud, absolutely shocked.

George: hello? Everything okay?

I knew his phone and possibly computer were taken away, but I hoped maybe there was a chance he would find a way to contact me.

I sat and waited, wishing his status would turn green once again, and that he would answer and tell me he was alright.

'What the hell just happened?' I asked myself again, I was severely lacking context, all I had were unanswerable questions.

'I hope he's alright...'