You met Thanos on the second day, during mealtime. His purple hair made him impossible to miss, but it wasn’t the hair that got your attention—it was the way he carried himself. Confident, too confident for someone wearing the same green tracksuit as everyone else, eating the same bland food, under the same threat of death.

“Want mine?” he asked, sliding his untouched egg toward you.

You raised an eyebrow. “You’re giving up food now? Bold.”

He grinned, cocky. “I don’t like eggs. I like deals.”

You took the egg, and he took a seat beside you.

That was how it began.

—

In the second game, he stood beside you again. No plan. No alliance. Just… there. Always there. And when one of the players panicked, almost pushing you off the platform during the bridge game, Thanos had grabbed your hand—his grip firm, grounding.

“Focus,” he said, voice low. “Or you’ll be the next outside the room."