Falling slowly ...

Damien and me.

"Ok, we are rolling in 3... 2..."
Then Ryan put up his finger and camera started.
"Back by popular demand, we have with us 'You have got Crabs'. Apparently you guys want to see us blow our brains out, trying to figure out each other's signal. But we will do it." Joven introduced the video.
"The teams are as follows. Me and Mari, Boze and Wes, Damien and y/n." he said into the camera.
"Yes, we have y/n with us today. She is an editor on Smosh. You guys popularly know her as the 'summer saulting princess', but her name is million times better than that." Mari said.
I waved my hand towards the camera.
"Hi everyone. So happy to be here." I said.
I received a thumbs up from behind the camera. I couldn't see whose hand it was, but it means My voice is audible. Great.
"So shall we begin the game?" Wes asked and Joven dealt the cards.
I looked over to Damien. He to looked at me and we exchanged a quick smile.
Here it goes.
I looked at my cards. Two of same kind and rest two are solos.
I looked at Damien. He scratched his nose. I was about to call out, but then I remembered that he also had to rake his hair.
I waited but he didn't do that.
Geez, almost lost an unearned point there.

The game continued. By the third switch, I had three of a kind.
I looked at Mari and she was watching her nails. Could that be her tell?
Joven suddenly screamed " Mari has crabs."
Sure she did. That is her tell then.
Switch happened and I picked up a card.
Oh God. Four of a kind. I looked at Damien. Before I could do anything, he scratched his nose and immediately raked his hair. I smiled and called out "Damien has crabs."
"Yesss!" he yelled.
I bent over to pick up a crab and gave my signal.
I saw him and sure he didn't notice. Too busy in keeping away his cards. He looked over and I quickly gave my signal again.
"Uh.. um. Y/N HAS CRABS." he shouted.
I dabbed and picked up another crab. Everyone laughed.
"Wait so you both had crabs?" Joven asked. Salty.
"Yes buddy." Damien said.

After another three rounds, I noticed Mari looked at her nails again. I looked at Joven, but he wasn't noticing.
Should I call out. We did get an extra crab.
What the heck, just do it.
"Mari has crabs." I said out loud.
Everybody looked at me, but I was just waiting for her reaction.
"How did you know?" she yelled throwing her cards down.
Yess! She has crabs.
"Well, I caught your tell." I said, giving my best 'proud' impression.
"That's why we are on the same team." Damien said from across the table.
I laughed at that and we just gave each other an air five.
"Alright y/n and Damien, you both have made a rival team." Joven said.
"Yes, and among all this team war, we will win." Boze said, to which Wes cheered.
"Not happening folks." I said.

By near end of the game, I and Damien, and Mari and Joven were tied.
This was the last round. We just need another crab to win.
"Hey y/n," Mari called me.
Both me and Damien looked over.
She scratched her nose and raked her hairs.
Oh sjit! She figured out our tell.
I and Damien exchanged looks. He was surprised too.
"What are you gonna do now, rivals?" Mari said, unable to control her laugh. I could also hear joven laugh.
"We will improvise." I said looking Damien in eyes.
"Looks like we are going to win this Mari." Joven said out loud.
I chuckled and said "not happening folks." I don't wanna loose my first game.
Winning or losing doesn't matter here, but I have spoken a lot. We have to win.

The sides got switched, it was Damien's turn now. He and Wes fought over a card, which ultimately Wes took. Damien picked another card.
I wasn't looking at him directly, but I never lost him in my peripheral.
I felt him looking at me.
I turned and he lowered his gaze to his hands.
I followed his eyes.
He was clenching his one fist, and rubbing it lightly with another hand.
Like this morning in the conference room.
I felt my face heating up.
Is this the new tell? Did he actually use it?
I was so surprised I almost forgot to call out, until Boze called out. Sure Wes had a crab, but they still are far away.
I have to call out immediately.
I looked Damien in his eyes, but he was concentrating on his hand.
He was markedly red too.
There is no point in being angry or embarrassed about it.
On a lighter note, we are gaining a good thing out of a stressful situation of the morning, which is a crab.
Oh sjit! Call out immediately.

"Damien has crabs." I practically yelled.
The entire room got quiet.
Damien immediately smiled. I could see his tension physically melting away. He was too tensed about using that as tell. I will have to comfort him after the game.
"YESSSS!"
He threw his cards down.
We both stood up from our stools and high fived over the table.
"Oh nooooo!" Joven shouted.
"What the hell! How did THAT happen?" Wes yelled.
I shrugged. What else could i do?
"We improvised and then won the game." Damien said, bringing his head closer to Joven's already shocked face.
Everyone, including Joven and Mari laughed.
Glad this did not turn sore.

"So that was today's video you guys. Comment down how much did you like y/n playing with us on a scale of 1-10." Joven ended the video.
"Also which other games we should play?" I said.
That is always the question. Which game?
"And CUT." Ryan shouted.

"Hey Damien. You ok?" I asked Damien after shoot wrapped up.
"Yeah. Listen, I am so sorry. I just couldn't think of anything else. I just went head and toe with it." he said in the most apologetic way.
He is always so considerate about others. Why?
"Hey, it's ok. I came over to say it was really smart of you to pick that."
"Really?" his expression eased up a bit.
"Yeah. I mean, its practically us making fun of him. Earning crabs from something he gave us."
He smiled and nodded.
I bid him good bye and we both left.
I texted Spencer to edit that video, just so it is unbiased. He didn't see my point, but accepted it in exchange of a pit video.

TIME SKIP:
A WEEK LATER.
I entered my office as usual.
The squad was standing outside, as they were going on a squad vlog video today. Zoo, if I remember it correctly.
I saw Shayne and Courtney standing together, and decided not to disturb the love birds.

I opened my Instagram in the elevator.
I had about 3000 notifications. What the heck!
All follow requests.

I entered the editors room, and found Spencer already there.
"Hey y/n, did you go to see the video?" he asked me.
"Which one?"
"Crabs one. Matt uploaded it yesterday right?"
Oh yes, the video was uploaded yesterday. That must be the reason behind the massive follow requests.
"No, I haven't seen it yet. I will see it now." I told him.
Man, I wish Courtney was here. I need a hand to squeeze.

I read the comments while watching the video.

Good game guys. Really enjoyed the video.

The ending was soooooo good.

What was everyone's tell?

Is it just me or Damien and y/n look good together?
Wait what?!!!
It had over 250 upvotes. Some 50+ undercomments but I am not going there.
That was what was missing to make us more awkward near each other. Way to go guys.

I read the comments further more, and then decided to edit. Can't let it affect my work.
I later accepted all the requests, and just to avoid any stress on my account, I made my account public. Not that I have anything to hide.
How the hell am I suppose to talk normally to Damien now?
He must have gone to the comments too.
Oh God!