Clay stared at his screen intently, fingers flying around his keyboard as he moved his character around. Quackity and George were bickering like siblings in his headset, Sapnap was muted as he talked to his stream from down the hall.

His lime green avatar jumped and ducked around the world, nodding a greeting to Callahan as he passed. His three friends chased after him, all joking about how much they were popping off.

Clay's phone screen lit up, illuminating his room with light as he got a notification.

Three new texts from 'Baby Mama' just now.

He smiled and picked up his phone, unlocking it.

i cried in the shower today thinking about blobfish

people keep calling them ugly like they don't have any feelings

just thought you should know

Clay bit his lip as he tried to think of a witty response. He wanted her to laugh, or even better yet, groan and roll her eyes. That would be best.

☹️

He cursed himself as he pressed send, knowing it wasn't good enough.

The typing bubbles appeared almost immediately, and Clay waited anxiously for Caoimhe to send him another message.

if you ever insult them again, i will rip your fingernails off one by one

Clay's eyes widened, and he stifled a laugh as he replied.

"Dream!" George yelled.

"!" Sapnap chorused

"Dreeeeeeammmmmmm!" Quackity sang, autotune already on.

"?" He turned his phone off and went back to his computer.

"." Sapnap laughed. "?"

"Is your pc acting up or something?" George asked.

"" Clay chuckled awkwardly, turning and hitting Quackity's character, making him start crying in autotune.

gotta use my girl scout knowledge somehow

He made his character twerk as he typed out a response with his pinky finger.

Quackity's skin was naked now, and Sapnap was throwing diamonds at the two of them. George had joined in on the autotune. Clay stayed quiet.

don't diss the thin mints, bitch

and troop 5473 was just built different

our leader was my friend's dad who was dishonorably discharged from the military

wow, did he have some weird stories for us around the campfire

Clay barked out a laugh. His friends took this to mean he was laughing with them, and accepted it.

George got shot by a skeleton and screeched at the top of his lungs, making Clay flinch. He could hear Sapnap's echo from both in the house and on the teamspeak call, "?!"

"!" He groaned playfully, quickly typing out a reply to Caoimhe while he had the chance to.

desertion i think

he tried to escape

i was nine, i don't remember every detail

you try telling me detailed stories about nine year old you then

yeah, you can't think of any, can you? punk

Clay could feel the blush on his face form as he read her words. He both hated and loved the way she could affect him like that. It was strange.

"DREAM! DREAM! DREAM!" George yelled. "Hello?! Anybody in there?!" He hit Dream's avatar with a stone sword.

"Do it! Do it! Do it!" Quackity egged Sapnap on.

Sapnap muted himself on the call and Clay heard him start to walk down the hallway. He burst through the door dramatically, startling Clay with the sudden volume. Clay watched him, eyes wide, as his best friend since childhood stalked over.

His phone lit up with more notifications in his hand, making him and Nick look down at it.

don't tell me to shut up, i'll tell you to shut up

unless you like that kinda thing...

i don't normally kink shame, but you could be my only exception 😍

well no, i actually shame a lot of kinks, that was a lie

The corners of his mouth started to tilt up before he forced them back into a straight line. Nick's mouth opened slowly with realization. Clay stared at him, trying to telepathically remind him that his stream could still hear them.

"." Sapnap's voice got higher with his teasing tone. He was ready to humiliate his friend. ""

Clay started to laugh awkwardly, trying to play it cool. ""

Quackity and George started asking rapidfire questions, even though Sapnap couldn't hear them and Dream was definitely not going to reply.

He shamelessly unlocked his phone and typed a reply. Nick was watching over his shoulder.

says the guy who got upset when i told him i wouldn't moan bartholomew or clay

you totally did wdym

drew just yelled at me to stop texting you so i can pay attention to gnomeo and juliet

you remind me of the gnome wearing a fucking thong

Sapnap let out a laugh, and Clay suddenly remembered that he was still there. He always got sucked into the conversations, and Caoimhe's quick replies made it hard to get out.

"WHY ARE YOU BOTH QUIET?!"

Clay quickly texted back '' and turned off his phone.

"."

"Yes, you are!" Quackity groaned. "It's already unfair enough that you two are living with each other, you don't need to rub it in our faces with all your in person conversations we're not a part of."

Sapnap went back to his room, giving Clay one last flirty wink and a thump on the shoulder.

"." Sapnap agreed, finally unmuting again.

"Then what were you doing? Sapnap just said he'd check on you and then nothing."

"Fuck you, asshole. What was so important it made you ignore me, the greatest person you know?" Quackity started back up with his autotuned crying, his character digging a hole and burying himself in it.

"."

"."

Clay sat there, absorbing Nick's taunting words. "," he agreed, his heart feeling a bit lighter as he smiled. "."

"Stop excluding me in these things."

"Shut up George."

"Shut up Alex."

"Don't call me that."

"It's your name."

And so, the childish bickering began again, and they all moved on from the subject.