Random Short Stories/Written Ideas

A Virus and the Anti

The night was clear, and the city was asleep. The people rested, tucked away in their beds.

All but a few night owls, of whom protected the city from the shadows.

Glitch roamed the streets, eyes completely covered by a mask without eye holes. They weren't completely blind in the one eye that had left, but it was too recognizable to leave visible. Besides, he liked the little mystery it shrouded him in.

Unfortunately, that hint of mystery drew in the wrong people. They were out searching for crime, multitasking between peering through cameras (it wasn't hard to do when he had his eye covered), and listening to the happenings around him.

He didn't catch the sound of another tailing him, though.

"If it isn't my favorite Scott. Out for a minute stroll, ey?" A familiar, angsty voice called. Glitch downright nearly groaned, already irritated.

"Ahm not here tae play games tonight, Annie," they said a bit too aggressively. The nickname slipped out without care, and he didn't seem to realize it, either. His accent was thicker with his annoyance, but he was understandable enough.

"Having a rough day, bud?" The man that made it his sole duty to annoy the ever-living shit out of Glitch stepped up to their side, his masked, featureless face staring down at them. Blacked-out lenses covered the eyes hidden beneath, and they couldn't catch any inch of skin with the cloth mask that covered every inch of his face. The mask itself was an almost obnoxious shade of orange, which just went with the rest of his suit.

...Which was pretty much an exact copy of Glitch's. This irritated them the most, but they'd gotten somewhat used to it.

The only difference was that there was more black involved with the costume, and the orange was a solid color. The jacket looked a bit more torn up at the edges, and the hood seemed thicker. There were black stripes on the forearms, as well.

Maybe they should steal some of the original design in Anti's suit, just to spite him.

"Donnae wanna talk about it with ye." Simple enough. Any normal person would take that and simply leave it be.

But not the Anti-Virus.

"Aren't we friends? You can talk to me," the taller man said.

Glitch turned their head in his direction, but with their eye covered, they couldn't see exactly where he was standing. Instead, they wound up looking passed him.

"Donnae. Wanna. Talk."

They refrained from telling him that 'friends' is stretching it quite a bit. They weren't friends, at least, that's what Glifch thought. Anti was the piece of shit that followed them everywhere they went, proving to be more of an annoyance than anything, and Glitch was the careless, reckless guy that loved to have fun.

...Except he wasn't so careless or reckless around Anti. They were more irate than anything.

Anti shrugged his broad shoulders. "Suit yourself. What's on the agenda tonight, bud?"

Gods, they hated it when he called them 'bud.' They weren't buddies, they weren't friends, they certainly weren't pals...

He knew Anti liked to play into the whole Canadian stereotypes (did they even say 'bud' and 'ey' that much?) just to annoy him further, but really. It was getting ridiculous.

He grumbled expletives in phrases that might seem like nonsense to anyone who couldn't understand a Scottish man's ire, then paused in their steps. Anti stopped with them.

"Listen here, Annie," they said carefully. Slowly, so their words came out clearly, and their accent was a bit more controlled.

Anti immediately understood that Glitch was being serious right now, and paused with them.

"Ahm not playin' your game with ye tonight. Ahm a wee bit tired, and- Ergh, aye, I did have a rough day. Which means, the last thing I need is ye and your daftie self riding my ass."

Once he was finished, he felt fingers gently nudging his wrist towards the right a little before slipping away. He'd been pointing at Anti angrily without realizing it- Or, rather, he'd been trying to.

"You were off a little," was all the other man said softly before stepping away. Sneakers scraped against the pavement as he, dejectedly, started walking away from Glitch.

That was it?

Really?

No teasing, no pushing, nada?

Well, Glitch didn't think he could feel guilty about crushing the man's soul like that, but here they were.

"...Wait, Annie-" They found themself calling, a hint of desperation worming its way into their tone.

"Mm?" The Canadian hummed in question, turning slightly.

They cringed before sighing to themself.

"Don't... Want to be alone," he muttered. But he was loud enough for Anti to hear him.

Barely.

"Oh." He didn't know what else to say. He just made his way back to their side, fingers brushing against their shoulder to alert them of his return. Although, he was sure they already knew. "I won't go anywhere."

"'m sorry."

The stubborn, aggressive little Scott was apologizing? That was unheard of.

"Ah, nothing to be sorry about, bud. Let's get a move on, though, ey? Crime may not rest, but you should." It wasn't the first time Anti showed some shallow level of concern for them, and they never really questioned it. They'd shown some level of concern for him, too, on his rougher days.

Maybe they were friends. Well... Close to being friends. Glitch still hated him.

"I donnae need rest," they grumped as they continued on their way.

Anti snorted, keeping pace with them.

"Sure, G. Sure."