Chapter Text
Strangers In The Night
"something in your eyes was so inviting,
something in your smile was so exciting,
something in my heart told my I must have you,
strangers in the night"
,,Frank Sinatra
———
Misfits take Carson Camping.
A video were, the Misfits, obviously, take Carson camping. However Schlatt was also there, and as a new crew member, it was relatively daunting to be filming for such well known youtubers. The pressure was on, but this was your job. It wasn’t like you hadn’t done this hundreds of times before. It was just.. bigger this time.
Everyone gathered around, you and a few other camera people setting up cameras, ect. And what was the first thing you ended up filming properly? Schlatt lifting his hoodie to reveal a gun poking out of his waistband. Now, for a first impression? That would have been odd. If you hadn’t already done research on the man.
Obviously you wanted to know what you were getting yourself into before diving in and filming for a bunch of men you didn’t know. Your friend Marcus, who was a camera man, had actually reached out saying they needed a spare cameraman for this shoot as one pulled out last minute. So you did your research, and when satisfied that they weren’t sketchy, you agreed. I mean, Marcus wouldn’t work with a bunch of sketchy people.
———
The Misfits joked to Carson, saying they needed to ‘hunt for food’, even though we had food here that we could cook over the fire, or just eat with no prep. But Carson, dumb as he was, went along with it. So everyone went into the forest. Kyle - a cameraman - went in with them to record. This left you and Marcus alone at the campfire.
———
“How you finding it so far?”
Marcus said, breaking the silence.
“Good so far, thanks. Was scared going into it but.. it’s fun.”
“You know Schlatt well?”
you asked.
“Eh, we aren’t friends but we know each other. I record for them a lot. He’s chill.”
Marcus responded.
“I see.”
“He’s cute.”
you blurted out.
“Oh?”
Marcus chuckled.
“Right, I didn’t mean to say that out loud.”
“Well, you got a shit ton of competition. Ever since he did that face reveal his fans have been feral.”
Marcus began,
“They’re like.. a bunch of horny chihuahuas humping at his leg.”
“Well, that’s one way to describe it.”
you added.
There was a moment of silence, the only ambience filling the air was the small crackle of fire and the occasional bird chirp. It wasn’t an uncomfortable silence, though.
“Fires slowly going out.”
Marcus said.
“Oh, don’t say that.. We have no wood here, that’s terrifying.”
you said.
“Well, I can go get some more firewood?”
Marcus suggested.
“What, and leave me out here alone? With a dying fire! No light source?!”
you whined, maybe a bit over dramatic..
“You’ll be fine for five minutes. Do you want us to freeze and end up having actually no light while we wait for the others?”
Marcus added.
“Ffffhine.. But I’m not happy about it.”
you said, dramatically.
Marcus then went into the forest, disappearing into the darkness of the trees. Leaving you alone.
———
After a few minutes, Marcus hadn’t returned yet, and you heard a twig snap from the tree line. If it was Marcus he would have yelled out it was him by now. Your head snapped towards the noise when you didn’t hear anyone call out.
“Marcus?”
…
No response.
Then another twig snap.
“Marcus if this is you trying to scare me, it’s not funny!”
No response. If this was Marcus, he would have said something by now, especially if he heard the tremble in your voice.
It was a stupid idea, really, but when you’re scared and have an adrenaline rush, your mind doesn’t exactly think logically. So, you fumbled for the pistol that Schlatt had left lying out in the open on a table for some reason.
You didn’t clock the gun, didn’t want to incase it was just an animal or someone playing some dumb prank.
“Whoever this is, it isn’t funny. I- I have a weapon!”
Stupid. Why announce that you have a weapon? Fuck.
Then, a tall man with his hood up emerged from the forest.
Schlatt?
He held his hands up in a mock surrender, with a shit eating grin on his face.
“You nearly gave me a heart attack! You asshole!”
you complained, giving him a small shove in the chest.
Schlatt looked taken aback, but maybe almost impressed?
“Sorry- no.. You’re not an asshole- I was just scared.”
“Well, I didn’t mean to scare you.”
Schlatt started,
“and put the gun back before you do yourself damage.”
You rubbed the back of your neck sheepishly, then placed it back down on the table.
“Safety’s on anyway. But I don’t exactly trust that you know how to use a firearm.”
“Why’s that? Cause I’m a girl?”
you said, defensively.
“No! No- that’s not what I meant.”
he started,
“You’re just shy and like.. timid. Wouldn’t really expect you to know how to use a gun.”
“I’d never use one to hurt anyone.. Just safety. Grew up in a rough area.”, you mumbled.
Schlatt nodded slowly with that half pout, half shocked expression.
“You’re not from America, are you? Is that a British accent?”
he questioned.
“Uh- yeah. Moved here when I was 16 with my parents and brother though. But back where we were in England was rough.. Plus, we’ve moved around numerous places in America. Not all as nice as where I am now.”
you responded.
“Where’s Marcus?”
“He left me to get firewood.”
“He left you here alone?”
he asked.
“Yep, but it’s okay, it’s not like anyone or anything could be lurking in these woods.”
you said, sarcastically, dramatically.
“Well, you’re a bit dramatic, but I get where you’re coming from. Shouldn’t leave you alone in the dark on your first shoot with us.”
the corner of Schlatts mouth tilted up slightly, almost a laugh.
“Who knows, you could be an Axe Murderer under all the youtube shit and nobody would ever know.”
you smirked.
“Are you accusing me of being an Axe Murderer?”
“Well, I wasn’t implying that. But should I feel threatened?”
“You can decide.”
he gave you a lopsided smirk, then turned to see the others retreating out of the woods.
———
Marcus and the others caught up! I guess they had seen Marcus on their way back, and since they had the flashlights, they helped him navigate back to us aswell.
“Still here, huh..”
Kyle muttered.
What? Obviously you would still be here, you had a job to do. Leaving it all to the men? I don’t think so.
———
A good few hours of filming them all do stupid things had wrapped up for the day, and everyone was relaxing by a campfire. Being a new camera person for them was odd, you had noticed the other cameraman, Kyle and his groupies, giving you dirty looks, and making snide comments every now and then. It was because you were a woman doing a ‘man’s job’. Camera work didn’t have a gender specified in the job title, same for any other job. But there’s always that one person. And that one person, was Kyle!
It had made you feel kinda shitty. You had a big enough backbone to not cause a scene over it, or let it show that it had gotten to you. But it was still a shitty feeling, as was it an even shittier thing to do.
Marcus, being a good friend, had noticed this change in demeanour.
“Hey, you good?”
he nudged your shoulder gently.
“Yeah, I’m alright. Just.. tired.?”
you said it as if you were trying to convince yourself rather than Marcus.
“Right, just tired? That’s why you’re sitting here looking like a kicked puppy?”
he muttered,
“If he’s making you feel like shit, you can tell me.”
“No- no.. It’s fine, I don’t want to make a big deal out of it.”
you replied.
“If you’re sure.”
Marcus ended.
Schlatt had overheard this. He had been keeping an eye on you all day, not in a weird way, but in a caring way, almost. Just wanting to make sure you were okay and knew what you were doing, because you’re new. But he didn’t seem to fond of what had been said.
Slowly, he got up to grab himself a water bottle from the shitty plastic pop up table. Conveniently, right where Kyle was.
“Hey, stop being an ass to the new girl, yeah? It don’t look good on ya.”
Schlatt murmured, giving him a sarcastic grin, and a pat on the back that sounded slightly too hard.
Kyle gave a nervous smile and small nod.
Schlatt slumped back down onto the uncomfortable log, putting his elbows on his knees before poking a stick at the fire to keep it going.
———
The tents had already been prepped early in the morning when we arrived. And slowly, everyone else had gotten tired.
This left you and Schlatt sat alone together at the campfire. He looked at you. Once, then twice, then he just sort of.. stared?
“Do I got something on my face, or do you just have a staring problem?”
you teased.
“Oh, you’re not so shy anymore, are you?”
he smirked.
“Well, no, just mildly intimidated because a man i’ve only known for a few hours is staring me down.”
you replied.
“Right, Right. Understandable..”
he nodded slowly, elbows leaned onto his knees as he picked apart a twig and chucked it into the fire.
His eyes drifted back to you.
“You’re staring again.”
you mentioned.
“Yeah.”
“You’re pretty.”
he replied.
“Huh?”
you said, your eyes widened slightly.
You’d been told Schlatt could be a bit of a flirt sometimes, but this didn’t really seem performative, at least not to you.
“I said you’re pretty. Don’t speak no other languages.”
“Uh- right, sorry.”
you said, going back into that shy shell.
“Yeah, you’re welcome.”
You had been so busy thinking about how he had just called you pretty that you forgot to say thank you.
“Shit- sorry, thank you- yeah I-“
you stammered.
“I’m just messing.”
he huffed a laugh.
“Messing about the you’re welcome comment, by the way. Statement still stands.”
Did Schlatt honestly thing you were pretty? You barely knew him, he barley knew you! I mean, he was cute - yes. But this feeling shouldn’t already be starting.
You never believed in love at first sight, said it was cheesy and fake rom com shit. But the way he looked at you and called you pretty so softly? it did make you blush and feel slightly warm.
“Thanks for defending me earlier.”
“Defending you?”
he questioned.
“Against Kyle”
“Oh, that dick. Yeah. Never liked him.”
he started,
“He’s got too much of a lip on him and don’t know when to fuckin’ shut it. He’s a sexist little fuck and it pisses me off.”
“Okay feminist”
you laughed,
“No, seriously, thank you though. And you’re right. It does kinda feel a little sexist.”
“No- no. Not a little. He does this with every woman that ever gets on set. It’s fucking rude. Disrespectful.”
he muttered,
“I’d like to see his mother’s reaction to the way he spits out shit.”
You laughed slightly at that.
…
“You cold?”
he asked, tilting his head so his gaze met yours.
“Uh- I’ll be alright.”
you answered, sheepishly.
“Uh huh, that’s why you’ve got goosebumps?”
“Shut up..”
you murmured.
“Hey, rude. I defended you, remember.”
he snickered.
“Yes, thank you, Prince Charming.”
“Charming? God you haven’t met me.”
he huffed a laugh.
“You don’t seem that bad to me.”
you replied.
“You’d be surprised..”
“I’m just more relaxed off camera. Don’t gotta preform for anyone.”
“I respect that.”
you smiled.
“Anyways, take this, idiot.”
he said, hanging you his hoodie.
“You’ll freeze if you don’t.”
he stood himself up.
“I’m not even that cold.”
“Keep telling yourself that, toots”
he said, walking off to his tent without giving you a second glance.
———
Well now what? You’re left out here with the fading fire with some guys hoodie. Some guy you just met. Fuck, he doesn’t even know your name. You don’t even know hit actual name!
Your face pinked slightly, a small blush creeping up. You used to not believe in stupid fairytale love, but this guy made you laugh.. After a very messy past of relationships. This random guy you met on a whim doing your job treated you better than your exs had in only a few hours.
Well, I guess anything was better than being best black and blue and forced to do shit you didn’t want to. And anything was better than getting cheated on every other week.
You sat for a few minutes, watching the fire die down. Just letting yourself process your two odd conversations with Schlatt. You gently tugged the hoodie over your shoulders, tried to tidy up slightly, before going to your tent for the night.