Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Stanley walked into the first room of the office to find it filled with mountains of boxes. 

“Oh! What is this?” Narrator was incredulous, surveying the scene before him. “Stanley, did you do this?”

Stanley rubbed the back of his neck guiltily and raised his hands to sign.

‘The woman on the phone was very convincing.’

“Woman?! On the phone?!” If Narrator was physically present, he’d be nervously pacing. “Surely not THAT phone, yes?”

Stanley nodded, and made his way to the phone through the mountains of boxes, holding it above his head.

“Ah. A normal office phone.” Narrator was suddenly glad he wasn’t down there at the current moment. Those boxes looked very hard to move through.

He figured while he had it, Stanley picked up the phone and held it to his ear, only to hear the disappointing dial tone. He put it back and made it back to the safety of the empty hallway, kicking away a few boxes.

“How’d they even get this number in the first place? I was sure I had-” Narrator cut himself off. “Ah, nevermind that. Shall we continue with the story?”

Stanley shrugged and continued into the next hallway to find even more piles of boxes. He smiled in amusement. 

‘Really got my money's worth, I guess.’

Narrator simply muttered to himself. “Quite a lot of boxes… Must do something about this…”

Curiosity had gotten the better of Stanley, and he grabbed one of the boxes and opened it. Inside was a case of pencils, pens, and one expo marker.

Narrator hadn’t quite yet snapped out of his self-talk, but he made a little ‘hm?’ sound at the noise of Stanley ripping a box open.

Stanley carefully pulled out the supplies and finally held up the expo marker, his curious expression changing into a mischievous grin.

Narrator still wasn’t paying much attention. 

“But how would I get all those boxes out in such a short time frame? Well, a reset usually resets the majority of the office as well, yes? It may take care of itself.”

While Narrator was distracted, Stanley took this as an opportunity and hurried his way to the meeting room. He grabbed all the erasers and wiped all the whiteboards down, prepping them for his masterpieces.

“Oh, but what would Stanley think of that? Hey Stanley-“ Narrator stopped short. From his perspective, it seemed Stanley had disappeared! “Stanley? Where did you go?”

The sounds of aggressive, squeaky, marker noises coming from ahead caught his attention.

“Stanley? Is that you- Are you making those noises?” Narrator followed the path into the meeting room and-

Well, there he was.

Doodles. Doodles everywhere. Children’s cartoon characters covered the whiteboards top to bottom. Some doodles were very clear on who they were, others were only known by the name scribbled beneath them. Stanley stood staring at the blank wall in front of him, tapping the marker on his chin in contemplation.

Narrator made a little gasp and then fell silent. 

He had to go down there and see this for himself. So he took a deep breath and manifested physically. 

He really hadn’t done this in quite a while. The first and only time he could remember besides now was when he had decided to test out the collision on almost everything in the parable. 

This time, Narrator manifested as a ghost-like entity, invisible to the normal human eye. But he was there, in the room. 

Really, honestly, these drawings were good, much better than he himself could do. Narrator stood in front of one of the whiteboards, taking it all in. 

Stanley flicked the cap off a new marker and started to scribbled some more. This time he had to think about a design that was more than just a simple memory.; This time, all he had to go off of was a voice. 

Stanley had several ideas on what he thought the Narrator had looked like, but he was never able to visualize each version and choose the most likely outcome. And while the man himself was distracted, who’s to stop him? 

Narrator was focused on a handful of doodles that caught his eye. He recognized a few of the characters- of course, some were timeless- but others he was having a bit of trouble with. He turned around to ask Stanley and-

Oh.

Narrator reached out a hand towards the man in front of him, but hesitantly pulled it back to his side. These moments were oh so precious, best to make them last a little longer. 

Stanley finished drawing the glasses on the last one, and stepped back. He could have made more renditions, but there was only room for three. There were just some features he couldn’t see the Narrator without; glasses, for instance. 

Ah, fuck it. The three were good enough. 

Stanley labeled them as ‘Narrator’ and went to draw some more- only to realize he had no more room on this whiteboard. 

He turned around to see if there was more room on another one, only to find a man in his way.

Narrator was more focused on the drawings than on Stanley at this point. He made his way around the table to see the drawings closer. 

His hand brushed against the drawings that Stanley had made of him, careful to not erase, but simply to touch. 

He certainly didn’t notice the way Stanley was looking at him; or that he was looking at him at all. 

The designs Stanley had made were all accurate, technically. As a being with many forms- some may call him a shapeshifter, but Narrator thought the term was too crass- he looked upon these with fervor. How had Stanley gotten so close?

Stanley’s eyes followed the man as he examined his artwork. He couldn’t blame him, they were undoubtedly the best doodles in the office, maybe even the whole building. He awkwardly turned to the other whiteboards, and was disappointed to find no more space. He would have to erase his art to make more. 

He decided he couldn’t part ways with the doodles and turned back to the man admiring his art. 

Narrator began humming softly to himself as he looked over the finer details of the drawings. Something seemed to catch his eye, and he made a little ‘ah!’ noise as he snapped his fingers. The color of the frames of his glasses then changed, almost as if by magic - well, technically it WAS magic- from brown to a vibrant purple. Oh yes, this suited him much better! Brown had been much too drab. 

Sudden recognition hit Stanley. 

It was Narrator. 

The man standing before him was Narrator. He was looking at Stanley’s drawings of him.  

Stanley’s face turned red with embarrassment.

Narrator crossed his legs mid-air, and began to gently float. Ah, that was much better than standing all the time. He much preferred floating when he could. 

He continued to look at Stanley’s drawings, taking little details from some of them to add to his current form. He hadn’t done anything like this in millennia now. It was enriching, honestly. 

Embarrassment turned to shock and wonder. Was this a dream? This was a fever dream, right? A man was floating in front of him, and changing his appearance. 

What the fuck. 

Narrator slowly returned his feet to the ground. He had finished his edit, and now it was time to turn his attention back to-

He stopped short. 

Was Stanley…looking at him? Not through him? But at him? 

Yes, directly at him! 

…For once, he had nothing to say. 

Stanley finally got a good look at the man’s face. Well, he was right about the glasses, at least. Stanley put his hand under his chin and examined Narrator up and down. He was an accumulation of the the things he had imagined; fading grey hair, suit/blazer, aggressively British. 

Narrator’s eyes followed Stanley’s almost out of habit. 

He had been sure that he was invisible! But maybe he hadn’t been. And-

Oh. This was their first real meeting, wasn’t it? 

Narrator opened his mouth, and spoke again, this time, much softer. 

“I didn’t know you could…” The end of his sentence tapered off. 

Stanley ended up continuing the sentence. 

‘…Could you do this the whole time?’ He signed in awe.

“I- Well-“ Narrator began to fidget with his tie; a nervous habit he didn’t know he had. 

“Technically I could, but I never thought I really needed to. Telling a story is so much simpler when you aren’t in it, you know, and I thought that you were fine on your own anyways, so-“ Narrator began rambling. Another nervous habit, it seemed. His face began to flush as well, spreading even to his ears. 

Before he could think about what he was doing, Stanley put a hand on Narrator’s shoulder. 

He could feel the material underneath his hand. He was touching another living being. 

He stared at his hand. He had to be dreaming, right? It all felt too surreal.

Narrator stopped short yet again- he was on a roll with getting interrupted, it seemed- and jerked backwards, letting out a small yelp. 

“ Whatdidyoujustdotome?! Stanley!?” Narrator’s voice took on not an angry quality like in the countdown ending- ugh, quite a hassle, that one, although it was fun to play the villain- but instead a more shocked and surprised and-

Oh god. 

For the first time, the Narrator actually felt a jolt of fear. Well, not fear fear, but the type of fear you get from a jumpscare, or a sudden loud noise. No no no, this was not good. 

Stanley’s hand quickly flung back to his side. 

‘I just touched you. It doesn’t do anything. Have you never had physical interaction before?’

Narrator was dumbstruck. 

“W-Well- I suppose I haven’t. Was that what that was?” 

As much as he hated to even think it, Stanley was right. Up until a few minutes ago, Narrator was nothing more than a voice; a metaphysical entity. But now, he was actually here, in the flesh so to speak. And not only that, but Narrator realized that he’d chosen a human form. 

Was that why he was feeling all these… things?

Stanley nodded. 

‘I didn’t mean to startle you. I guess I just needed to reassure myself that you were actually standing in front of me.' He let out a nervous giggle. 

Narrator felt himself empathizing with that thought. 

Empathy. That was another human thing, yes? 

Narrator was suddenly hit with the sensation of strange dizziness. He clutched his head and wobbled a bit, using the meeting room table to prop himself up. 

Oh no. 

“No. Nononononono . This can’t actually be happening, can it? I- I can’t be… feeling these things, can I? What’s happening to me?” The room seemed to swim in front of his eyes.

Worry took over Stanley, and he took a step towards Narrator. 

‘Narrator? What’s wrong?’ He grabbed a chair and pushed it over to him.

“I- I don’t know, Stanley, I just feel strange all of a sudden. I’m feeling so many new things and I-” Narrator moreso collapsed into the chair rather than just sitting in it. 

He paused, and when he spoke again, his voice shook. 

“I’m not sure why. And that-” He took a shuddering breath. “That scares me, Stanley. I don’t know if this is a side effect of having a human form or- or- if it’s always been here and I’m just realizing it now through this form but I- I-”

Stanley crouched beside him. 

‘Hey, it’s okay, just take a second.’ He went to take Narrator’s hand in his own, but stopped himself and instead stood up and patted his shoulder comfortingly. ‘Just take a second and breathe.’

It was strange, Narrator thought, to be the one receiving the guidance for once. But he did what he was told anyway. 

In. Then out. In. Out. 

As he breathed, he felt himself calming down, ever so slightly. He felt more grounded now, at least. 

Suddenly, all new anxieties rushed to the surface. 

“Oh god, Stanley! What if I’m stuck like this?! What if I can’t go back, or change my form ever again?! Am I losing myself? Oh goodness, I hope not!” He whirled around to face Stanley. 

Narrator could see the worry on Stanley’s face. Stanley grabbed another chair and sat down in front of Narrator, and hesitantly put his hand on Narrator’s. 

‘Whatever form you take, you’ll always be my Narrator. And if you can’t change back, I’ll be here to help. it’s not like I can go anywhere.’ Stanley gave him a small smile. 

Narrator couldn’t help but chuckle. He looked down at his hands, and at Stanley’s hand on top of them. This type of physical feeling felt…nice. And comforting. 

Narrator couldn’t quite place why. 

He placed one of his hands-the one Stanley’s hand wasn’t on top of- on Stanley’s hand. 

“Thank you, Stanley.” His voice was soft again. “I…I really mean it. I’m not sure how I’d go on without you here.” He didn’t seem to realize the weight of the words he was saying.

Stanley felt like he wanted to cry. They wouldn’t be sad tears, or happy tears. He didn’t even know why he wanted to cry in the first place, but he wouldn’t let himself. Narrator needed him… but he didn’t know how to respond. 

All he could manage was a nod, and a comforting squeeze of Narrator’s hand. 

But Stanley wasn’t going to be the first to cry. 

After a moment, Narrator almost hurled himself at Stanley, bringing the two of them into a hug. Narrator was trembling and whimpering, shakily whispering choked-up apologies and what-ifs. One stood out above the rest, though. 

“Are you sure you’ll stay here?”

Stanley was stunned, but he hesitantly wrapped his arms around the weeping man. He then gently pushed Narrator’s head to face him so he could see his hands. 

‘I promise I’m not going anywhere. I’ll go where you go.’ 

Narrator smiled melancholically. 

“Thank you. Sincerely. You don’t know how much that means to me.” He sniffled a bit, then quietly, almost to himself, added “You’re all I have.”

It was Stanley’s turn to cry. He couldn’t stop the tears this time, and his vision became all blurry as he looked away. 

He signed a quick ‘sorry’ then used his hands to cover his face. He was kind of hoping this was all a dream.

A look of concern and confusion crossed Narrator’s face. 

“No! No! No need to be sorry!” He reached a hand out and rested it on Stanley’s back. “Did- did I say something wrong?”

Stanley shook his head. 

‘Not at all.’ He wiped his face and gave him a watery smile. ‘I honestly don’t know why I’m crying but… Okay, I was going to say it has nothing to do with you, but that would be a lie.’ He rubbed his eyes again. 

‘My emotions are just being stupid. Are you feeling better?’

Narrator pondered Stanley’s question. 

“I’m… not quite sure. Having feelings is hard, hm?” There was a smile in his voice again, at least. He didn’t exactly know what ‘better’ was, but he wasn’t feeling nearly as afraid as he was a few minutes prior. 

That made Stanley laugh. 

‘You could say that again. Maybe I should put it differently. Do you have a better… Handle on your feelings? Are you feeling a sense of… calm, I guess?’

“Calm?” Narrator twisted the word over in his mouth as if testing it out for the first time. “Hm. Well, you could call it that, I suppose.”

Stanley let out a sigh. 

‘Good, I’m glad.’ He smiled and looked at the whiteboards. ‘I should probably erase these, huh…’

“No!” The word just kind of slipped out. “I- I mean-” Narrator looked embarrassed, and rubbed his upper arm with his hand. “I like them. I was going to keep them.”

Stanley huffed a laugh. 

'Okay! I won’t touch them, then. But what now?’

This question caused Narrator to pause. What were they going to do now? He pondered it for a while. 

“Well, perhaps we could…” Narrator’s eyes lit up. “Ah! The story! There’s an idea!”

Stanley tilted his head in question. 

‘Are we still going to continue the story?’

“Well, why not?” Narrator inquired, tilting his head in response, “What else do we have to do?”

Narrator had a point, Stanley supposed, so he got up from his chair and waited for Narrator to follow suit. 

Narrator slowly and shakily got up from his chair, gripping onto the table for support. 

Stanley held out his hand, offering support.

“No- Stanley- I’m fine.” Narrator batted away Stanley’s hand. He steadied himself and took a few steps only to fall directly into Stanley.

Stanley laughed and steadied Narrator, holding out his hand again. 

Narrator reluctantly took it this time. He muttered a ‘Thank you, Stanley’ somewhat dejectedly before returning to his usual pomp. 

“Well! Let’s get on with it, shall we?”

Stanley nodded and started heading to the next hallway, slow enough for Narrator to keep up with. 

The Narrator stumbled along. It was clear he was unsettled again.

Stanley stopped and looked at Narrator with a worried expression. 

‘We don’t have to do this right now if you’re not ready. I can take you back to the meeting room to sit down again.’

Narrator was insistent. 

“No! I’m telling you, Stanley, I’m fi-” His voice wavered. Was this type of feeling normal for humans? How did they deal with it? Narrator could barely stand at this point. This had gone on long enough. He looked defeated, not a usual expression that’s for certain.

Alarm bells went off in Stanley’s head. Something was wrong, very wrong. 

‘We’re going back.’ 

Before Narrator could protest anymore, Stanley picked the man up, which to his surprise was not a struggle. He carried Narrator back to the meeting room, plopping him down in the chair he had previously.

Narrator was too weak to protest anyway, only murmuring a soft ‘thank you’. He sighed and almost melted into the chair. 

Stanley looked down at the man, not knowing what to do. For the countless times he’d walked the halls of this office, he couldn’t remember where the water cooler is, if there even was one. His mind was going blank. 

Narrator could feel himself slipping. He clenched onto a feeling of panic that he could not act on. 

In that moment, however, he realized he could hear something. A sound like a person talking. 

Could Stanley be…? 

But that wasn’t possible, was it? 

“Stanley? Did you… say something?” 

Chapter Text

Stanley stared at Narrator incredulously. 

‘What?’

Narrator took a large breath before speaking again. 

“Something about…a water cooler?”

Stanley blinked down at Narrator and stood there for a moment, dumbfounded. Confusion crossed his face. 

‘No? Well, I didn’t say it, or sign it…’ His hands moved with hesitation. 

‘Did… did you just read my mind?’

“Did I?” Narrator repeated, also dumbstruck. He wasn’t aware he could do that. Normally, when he described Stanley’s thoughts he was just guessing! He may be an omnipresent voice most of the time, but he wasn’t aware he was verging on omnipotence! 

Was this all because of his current state?

All of these thoughts converged into a single sentence. 

“I… wasn’t aware I could.”

Stanley stared at the man with a blank expression and momentarily forgot about the matter at hand. 

Mind reading? Was that humanly possible? 

Unless… Narrator wasn’t human at all. Well, he shouldn’t be too surprised, since he was floating just moments beforehand. But the idea of it never truly struck him before now. 

Why now was he just noticing this? Had he grown so accustomed to Narrator that he turned a blind eye? Now thinking of it, his situations were quite unusual…

Stanley’s mind wandered off track as he now questioned his entire existence. 

“Of course I’m not human, Stanley!” Narrator responded to Stanley’s thoughts, seemingly without realizing that he was responding to thoughts and not words.

He seemed to be feeling better now that he had a handle on this mind-reading stuff. Maybe the dizziness was a sign of new discoveries about himself? 

First the advent of feelings- to be fair, Narrator was still a bit apprehensive about exactly how far these feelings would go- and secondly, mind-reading? He had always known about his form changing, perhaps that was why this strange dizziness was only happening now.

Stanley simply nodded absent-mindedly. 

Oh no. They were both starting to get lost in thought. 

Stanley dragged his hand over his face and tried to remember where he had seen the water cooler. Wasn’t it in the employee lounge? 

Oh wait, he wouldn’t be able to get to it even if he wanted to. The door was most likely closed. 

‘Narrator, were there any other water coolers?’

“Hmm.” Narrator tried to think of where he had put those coolers when he designed the office’s interior. 

“Ah!” He snapped his fingers. “There should be one upstairs, in the boss’s office! And before you ask- because I know you will- I won’t shut the doors on you.” Narrator thought about it a bit more. “Hm. Or maybe I could open the doors on the route to the employee lounge, if that would be easier?”

‘I think the employee lounge is closer.’

Narrator nodded in agreement. 

“Then I’ll do that!” He snapped again, and the doors he said he’d open swung open as if by themselves. 

“Come back quickly, alright?” He seemed concerned. “I wouldn’t want you accidentally falling somewhere.” That truly would be the worst case scenario. Narrator tried to hide his nerves with a chuckle.

Stanley gave him a reassuring nod and quickly made his way to the lounge. 

He wasn’t used to backtracking, it was almost refreshing. That was until it hit him just how alone he felt. It was quiet, not even the usual ambient music was following him. 

Everything he did seemed louder; his footsteps, his breathing, hell, he could even hear his own heart beating. The silence was even more deafening when he poured the water from the cooler into the little paper cup. 

This unsettled him. He could hear his heart pump a little faster, which worsened his nerves. 

Stanley took a deep breath and tried to very calmly get back to the meeting room. It was that feeling of turning off the lights and having to rush to the lightened room. 

His nerves calmed a bit when he finally reached the meeting room. He placed the cup in front of Narrator, then sat down rigidly in his own chair.

Stanley noticed that Narrator looked rather stiff as well.

‘Drink.'

Narrator nodded and shakily grabbed the water cup. Stanley’s emotions were much more sharp and defined than Narrator’s own. 

He just stared at the cup. A look of confusion crossed his face as he looked from the cup to Stanley and back to the cup the back to Stanley. 

“Ah, Stanley? How do I…?”

Stanley gave Narrator a puzzled look. 

‘You…put it in your mouth and swallow? Also don’t breathe it in, or you’ll choke.’

“Is- Is that really what you do?” Narrator looked puzzled right back. 

He shrugged, took a deep breath in, and put the entire paper cup in his mouth. Then he shot Stanley a look that said, ‘like this?’

Stanley panicked and grabbed the cup out of Narrator’s mouth. 

‘NO! Impressive, but no . Hang on.’ He turned and hurried out of the room, leaving Narrator once again. When he returned, he was holding another cup, this time empty.

‘Like this.’ He took a pretend sip. ‘See?’

Narrator looked the slightest bit offended, but sighed in thanks. 

“Ah. That makes much more sense. Should I… try again?”

Stanley suppressed a laugh and pushed the cup with water back to him. 

‘And maybe take just little sips, so if you do breathe it in, it won’t kill you.’

Narrator nodded, taking Stanley’s advice. He brought the cup to his lips and actually took a drink. 

Cold flowed through his very veins. Narrator shuddered. 

It was odd, to say the least. Having been a being with no actual mouth for the majority of his existence, he had never actually tasted water before. Or anything, really. Narrator was stunned into silence for the third time this run. 

Stanley watched Narrator intently, making sure his companion didn’t drown himself. 

Narrator’s eyes had widened, as if the best-kept secrets of the universe had just been revealed to him. During this run, his mind had been opened to not one, but two new senses. 

Of course, Narrator was too civilized to immediately start biting everything to see what they tasted like, but the thought did cross his mind. 

He finished the cup of water without incident. 

Stanley grabbed the empty cup, slipping it into the other one. 

‘That went better than expected.’

Narrator was still in shock at the moment. 

What else had he been missing up there? Did things look better down here, in person, than they did up there? 

Narrator then had an idea. 

It wasn’t a good one, and it could go wrong in so many different ways, but he might as well give it a try. 

“Stanley? Could you do something for me?”

‘Yeah, what’s up?’

“I…” Narrator fidgeted with his clothing again, this time the cuffs of his shirt. “Stanley, I- I think I want to go see the lights.”

It took Stanley a moment to process what Narrator said. The lights?

…Oh. Those lights. 

Stanley considered it for a moment, then nodded hesitantly. 

Narrator’s expression changed to one of excitement, then nervousness, and then finally sadness. He hesitantly extended his hand towards Stanley. “I’ll reset if you want to leave, alright?”

Stanley nodded again, but then paused for a moment. 

‘Would that make you go back to… normal?’

Narrator took a moment to consider this. 

“I- Well…I’m not sure.” He put the hand he had just extended to his chin. “I doubt that I’ll lose anything I’ve gained this run, experience and apotheosis-wise, but I do believe that I will return to the metaphysical.”

‘Okay… let’s go, then.’ Stanley stood up and held out his hand for Narrator to take.

Narrator took Stanley’s hand and stood up as well, this time without shaking. 

“Would you like to lead?” With his free hand, he gestured to the still-open meeting room door.

Stanley stood there for a moment, calming his nerves. It would be fine. He wouldn’t go there again. 

He decided to focus on getting Narrator to the lights safely. 

And they made their way to the light room.

Chapter Text

The trip went rather smoothly, save for Narrator almost missing the jump to the catwalk. 

As the two reached the red and blue doors, Narrator began to speak. 

“Now listen carefully, this is important. Stanley, I’m not going to force you to do this. If you like, we can go through the blue door and do that whole thing. All I can input is my own opinion. You have full choice in the matter. I’ll follow whichever you choose. So-” 

He stopped himself. This was getting too close to a monologue from a different painful memory. 

But he had to finish his sentence. 

“Please? Choose?”

Stanley looked at Narrator, then back to the doors. He sucked in a breath, then headed into the blue door.

Narrator followed along, but immediately looked deflated. 

“Ah. Well, if that’s what you truly want, I suppose-” 

He was cut off as the two men were teleported back to the room with the red and blue doors, this time with an arrow pointing towards the red door. 

“Oh? Is this how it goes? I must have forgotten!” A bit of hope ignited in his eyes.

Stanley stood there, puzzled. Was it not the blue door? He knew this place like the back of his hand, there was no way he could have forgotten. 

He went through the blue door again.

This time when the two men were brought back to the room, only the red door stood in front of them, surrounded by arrows pointing towards it. 

“Stanley- I- Well, neither of us have been here in- well, in quite a while- but I do believe you’re getting your colors confused!” Narrator stops. “Stanley? Are you colorblind? I do believe the-” 

He cut himself off from saying the actual name of the place. “-the lights room is through the red door! Or were you trying to get to the blue door on purpose? Or! Like my first question; are you colorblind?”

Stanley shook his head. No, he was so sure it was the blue door. He ran through Narrator’s lines at the first two doors and at these ones. Had something changed?

No, as it turned out, Stanley was just being stupidly forgetful. Stanley finally walked through the red door. 

“Ah! Yes! Here we go!” Narrator seemed extremely excited, and his words backed it up. “You know Stanley, I don’t think I’ve ever felt this… hm… what’s the emotion word for happy vibration?”

‘Excited?’ Stanley smiled.

“Yes!” Narrator’s face broke out into a huge grin of his own. “Yes! That’s it!” The both of them then came upon the door to the room itself, which was closed. 

“Go on, Stanley! Open it!”

Stanley laughed and turned the handle, pulling the door towards him. 

And there it was. The zen room. Currently off. 

Narrator gasped. 

“Oh! Yes! Here it is!!” He was just about vibrating physically now, but still stood in one place. 

Stanley looked into the darkness in front of them.

 After they got in, and got their fill of ‘zen’, what then? 

He looked over at Narrator to express his worry but stopped himself, seeing how excited Narrator was. 

Stanley put his questions aside, then walked forward.

Narrator noticed the shift in Stanley’s thoughts, and was about to explain his plan when Stanley turned away. He followed, of course. Perhaps he could explain later. 

“Mmmm? What have we here? What are we looking for?” He slipped into his script out of habit. 

Stanley continued walking forward, waiting for the light room to appear as he remembered. 

And appear it did! But not exactly as Stanley had remembered. 

As both of them reached the middle of the room, the dome lit up with more colors and lights than had ever been shown in this room before. Narrator let out a gasp of wonder. His eyes changed colors along with the lights, irises morphing into a rainbow of shades.

The change of lights slightly startled Stanley, as he was not expecting it. He stared up at the dome in wonder. 

It truly was a beautiful sight. 

Narrator firmly planted his feet on the ground as he gazed upwards, following the lights on their journey to the top of the dome. 

“Stanley? This is what happiness is, isn’t it? Really, I mean.”

‘What you’re feeling? Yes, I would assume so.’

Stanley decided to lay down, but as he did he caught sight of the door leading to the next room, and worry crept up in him again. 

He decided to sit up instead.

‘So…not to ruin this moment… but… what will we do when we’re done? How do we get out?’

Narrator’s expression darkened the slightest bit as he turned to look at Stanley. 

“Well, I was thinking I would reset.” He then realized what that sentence was implying and waved his hands frantically in the air.  

“Not that way, of course! I was going to-” The bespectacled man sighed as he turned to look back at the lights. 

“I was going to manually reset. When I- I mean you- I mean-” Narrator sighed in slight frustration. “When we are both ready.”

Stanley huffed out a laugh. 

‘I get what you’re saying.’ Satisfied with his answer, he laid back down and stared up at the dome. 

Narrator copied his movements, gingerly laying his still newly acquired body down next to Stanley. A sense of calm washed over him; one that could almost be felt in the air around him. 

Stanley let out a contented sigh. He hadn’t felt this at ease in a while, it was a nice refresher.

Narrator let his arms fall out to his sides and let out a long breath. Knowing that Stanley felt at ease was the cherry on top of this whole experience. 

Stanley’s eyes suddenly became heavy, and the colors started to blur together. Perhaps he had simply gone too long without blinking. He closed his eyes, and without meaning to, drifted off. 

It wasn’t until Narrator turned to look at his companion that he realized that Stanley hadn’t moved in a while. He started out speaking quietly. 

“Stanley? Are you alright?”

Nothing.

Narrator’s voice crept up in volume. 

“Stanley? Can- can you hear me?” 

He felt a jolt of panic, cutting through the comfort of the room they were in. 

Oh god, what if- 

What if death was unavoidable in this ending? What had he done?

It was then that Stanley shifted over to his side, facing Narrator. 

He was smiling.

Narrator let out a sigh of relief. 

And then he felt… something prick at the corner of his eyes. 

Oh god was- was water falling out of his eyes? What was this? He felt himself smiling, but his eyes wouldn’t stop leaking. 

He just barely choked out his next words. 

“Stanley! Oh thank goodness I-” He had to pause for air. “I thought you had-”

Stanley rolled onto his stomach and stretched, opening his eyes again. 

He looked at Narrator to see tears on his face. 

Stanley sat up immediately.

‘What’s wrong? Narrator, why are you crying? I thought you were happy? Did something happen?’ Stanley put a hand on Narrator’s shoulder.

“No, no Stanley, I’m much better now.” 

He didn’t flinch away again like he did the first time. Perhaps he was getting used to human touch? 

Narrator sniffled, and wiped his eyes. 

“I just- Well, I saw you lying there, not moving, and I thought you had-” 

He had to stop himself. 

When Narrator spoke again, his voice was much quieter. 

“I thought you had died.”

Stanley held back a laugh and shook his head. 

‘Sorry to scare you, but I just fell asleep, nothing to worry about.’

Narrator was taken aback. 

“Asleep? I didn’t think that you could do that?” He could have sworn the player settings for need to eat, drink, and sleep were off. Had something happened?

Stanley shrugged. 

‘It just happened, I wasn’t really aware I had done it until I opened my eyes again. The conditions were just right, I guess.’

“Oh.” Narrator felt a sudden wave of anxieties, although he tried his best to hide it. “Well, I suppose.”

‘Are you sure you’re okay?’

Narrator’s response was short and blunt. 

“Fine. Thank you, Stanley.”

Stanley felt guilty, but for what? What had he done wrong? What had he done to upset Narrator? 

Stanley tucked his knees to his chest and looked back up at the dome. This was supposed to be a happy place for Narrator, and it ended in tears. Great.

“No! You didn’t do anything wrong!” Narrator blurted out his response to Stanley’s thoughts. “I let my thoughts get ahead of me- I-” 

He sighed, shaking his head. 

“You’re right. And that’s not something I say a lot; you know that. This was supposed to be happy. Not just for me, Stanley, but for the both of us.” He was being oddly sincere, but perhaps that was the effect of the room they were in.

Stanley gave him a small smile. 

‘Thanks, Narrator… and I am happy here, and it’s a little nicer to have someone else here with me.’

Narrator let out a small gasp at that statement, which softened into a small smile. 

Stanley felt a fuzzy warmth wash over him. He quite liked it when Narrator smiled. 

Narrator’s eyes widened at the thought. 

“You- You do?”

Stanley became red in the face and looked away. He had forgotten about Narrator’s mind reading abilities. 

‘I mean yeah, it’s nice to see anyone smile.’ He fumbled quickly with his hands. ‘I mean why wouldn’t I? I like your smile, it suits your face- not that it wouldn’t, your face is nice, everything suits your face-’ 

Stanley decided it would be better to stop trying to explain then keep making a fool of himself. Where was he going with that anyway?

Narrator turned a bit red as well. 

“Well- I- Uhm- Well thank you Stanley, I am- er- glad to hear that.” He then had a thought. “Do you not like it when I do that? The mind reading, I mean.”

‘I’m just not used to it yet, I guess. Maybe it’s a little awkward, but I’m sure I’ll get used to it…’

Narrator nodded, doing some thinking of his own. 

It was awkward, but it was also very convenient, especially if Stanley was ever using his hands for other things like carrying things and needed to communicate.

‘It would be a little nicer to get to know what you think,’ he continued. ‘You’re pretty expressive as it is, but I never know if I’m reading you right, you know?’

“Ah! Well yes, that would be convenient, wouldn’t it?” Narrator ran a hand through his hair. “However, I’m not sure how I would do that exactly? And you’re correct on my emotions a vast majority of the time, anyway, Stanley.” 

‘Yeah, I don’t know if it would even be possible.’

“Well, it would be interesting, to say the least. A vast majority of our conversations would then take place unsaid.”

‘True, although they are pretty one sided already, verbally I mean.’

Narrator chuckled heartily. The laugh was so forceful that it knocked him backwards and onto the floor where he was sitting. 

“Ahhh…” Narrator wiped away invisible non-existent tears. “You’re right on that point, Stanley.” 

He propped himself back up again. 

“It would be interesting though, wouldn’t it?”

Stanley laughed with Narrator, how could he not?

Narrator looked back up at the lights, which had started forming themselves into constellations. He wondered which ones were which. Sure, he knew where the big and little dippers were, but much else escaped him.

Stanley followed Narrator’s gaze back to the lights. He was surprised to be looking at the night sky, his eyes glossing over the tiny dotted stars. It filled Stanley with a sense of nostalgia. 

Narrator wondered if there was anything else out there, anything besides this limbo that he had had a hand in making. 

Of course there was a ‘real world’ outside of the parable, but his wonderment was directed less at the Earth, and more at the space outside of the atmosphere’s confines.

‘Well, of course there’s more than Earth. Space is infinite nothingness, and that infinite nothingness expands every day.’ 

Stanley looked at Narrator, only to realize he hadn’t said anything. He started to feel a pressure in his head, and he became dizzy.

What the hell?  

Chapter Text

Narrator turned to look at Stanley. His thoughts mirrored his words. 

“Stanley? Did…did you just-? How did you-?” 

He was shocked. Hadn’t they just talked about this happening? Oh goodness, he’d have to be a lot more guarded with his thoughts now. There were a few specific things that he did not want Stanley knowing.

Stanley chuckled in agreement. This was getting all too weird, and it was going to be a challenge not thinking some things he would usually think. 

Was there a way to turn it off? He didn’t think he could handle Narrator’s thoughts along with his own, as if he could ever shut his own thoughts up in the first place. He’d only been half-serious when wanting to be able to read Narrator’s mind.

“Stanley, are you alright?” Narrator decided to gloss over the majority of what Stanley was thinking at the moment to focus on the way Stanley was looking. He didn’t look, let’s just say, one-hundred-percent alright? 

Maybe there was a way to turn this mutual mind-reading off. Would that be better?

Stanley nodded and gave Narrator what he hoped was a reassuring smile. He was wondering how they could turn it off. 

Maybe they couldn’t? But that’s what they thought about mind-reading in the first place, yet here they were. 

Anxiety started to gnaw at him, but what was it about? 

Stanley’s head started spinning again, and he closed his eyes tightly. 

“Stanley, you certainly don’t look alright.” Narrator was insistent.

Stanley was stubborn and shook his head. 

‘It’s probably just the lighting.’ He opened his eyes again and looked up at the dome. ‘Yeah, lighting.’ 

It would go away soon enough. 

“Stanley, we’ve been in this room for the past thirty minutes and you’ve had no problems prior. Something else is going on.” Narrator hesitantly put a hand on Stanley’s shoulder. “Could you at least describe what you are feeling? Or, well, you could think it, I suppose.”

Stanley sighed and looked at Narrator. He could only describe his anxiety as an intense nervousness. 

Then it dawned on him what he was anxious about. 

Oh, he certainly couldn’t think it, hoping Narrator would understand.

“Hmm…and intense nervousness? Well, I suppose that would be-” Narrator was cut off by Stanley’s other thoughts. 

“What is it, Stanley? Nothing truly bad, I hope?”

Stanley shook his head and smiled. No, it wasn’t bad, just that he’d rather not face it until he was ready. 

“Ready? Whatever does that-” Narrator stopped himself, shaking his head. Of course. Whenever Stanley was ready to face what he was anxious about, that would be fine by him.

‘Thank you, I appreciate that.’ Stanley’s smile widened, and the anxiety dissipated. It went away, like he thought it would.

“Well- I-” Narrator’s face grew hot. Just as Stanley had forgotten that Narrator could read his mind, Narrator had forgotten the same. 

“Of course.”

Stanley felt relaxed again and laughed. 

It felt right being relaxed with Narrator. 

He wished it could always be like this, it was nice.

“I do too, Stanley.” Narrator smiled. “I do too.”

He directed his gaze back to the dome. 

“Now! Do you know any of these constellations, Stanley?”

Stanley turned his attention back to the lights. 

‘Maybe… I think that one is Orion’s Belt.” He pointed out three bright stars in a row, and continued doing so, mainly pointing out Zodiac constellations. 

Narrator was entranced. 

“So that one is supposed to be a… bull?” He seemed confused. “Well, I must say, it looks nothing like a bull at all.” 

‘Well no, it doesn’t exactly look like one, but they’re sort of the base points. You connect the stars around them to form the bull. It’s kind of up to the imagination.’

“Imagination, hmm? Well, I suppose…” He tilted his head a bit and squinted, which Stanley apparently found amusing. 

Narrator made a mock offended gasp, and threw his hand against his chest to accentuate le gasp. How dare Stanley laugh at Narrator! 

This dramatic act sent Stanley spirling into laughter. He rolled onto his back, wiping tears from his eyes. 

God, he loved that man…

Narrator stopped. 

“Wh- You-” He felt his face flush- but he wasn’t embarrassed! What was this? 

He had never felt this before. All warm, outside and in. 

Stanley’s laughter had slowed down as he looked up at Narrator, confused. 

It took a moment to register before all the color drained from his face, then came back as a bright red. 

He quickly sat up stiffly, watching Narrator’s expression. 

Narrator’s observed expression was of shock and surprise, however there was no hint of rejection. 

Narrator was red as a beet, or a good tomato soup. 

He began to fan himself with his hands, and Stanley could hear a slight whirring. 

Stanley ignored the whirring, tuned in trying to listen to Narrator’s thoughts. 

Narrator’s thoughts were a mess. 

Internal screaming mixed with ‘oh god what do I do? Did he actually mean that? What do I say???’ is a fun combo. 

The one thought struck Stanley in the heart. 

He scooted closer and held Narrator’s face, making sure he was looking at him. 

Of course he meant it. It had taken him a while to realize, but he was certain now. 

Stanley loved Narrator. 

Stanley’s face became even redder, parallel to Narrator’s. As sincere as he was being, it was still nerve-wracking.  

Narrator seemed to be having a bit of a panic at the moment. It was almost as if Stanley could see the gears in his brain turning. 

Oh god, he was touching him, and oh god the sincerity was super effective. Narrator hadn’t had actual feelings for long, so he was having a bit of trouble. 

This felt like excitement but… different, somehow? His heart was still pounding, and the fluttery feeling in his stomach was still there, but it just felt different. 

Stanley pulled back, feeling the same pounding in his own chest. 

He hadn’t meant to overstimulate Narrator, but at the same time he was content to know that Narrator, at least from what he could gather from his companion’s whirlwind of thoughts, felt the same way… maybe. 

He could be reading the whole scene wrong, or overthinking it. God, this mind-reading really did complicate things. Focus, Stanley!

‘Narrator, are you… okay?’

“F-Fine, Stanley. Thank you, really, I just-” Narrator pushed his glasses up to drag his hands down his face. 

“I don’t know what this feeling is. It’s- it’s a good feeling, I believe?” 

Was Stanley experiencing these same sensations? Well, the heart pounding, but everything else? 

He felt happy, but nervous, but not excited? Narrator just couldn’t place it. 

Stanley was right about the mind reading complicating things, however convenient it may be. 

A warm smile crossed Stanley’s face and he nodded. 

Ah yes, the symptoms of love. Stanley had become all too familiar with the butterflies and flushed face. 

‘It is quite an intense feeling… but it’s nice. Makes you feel warm and fuzzy and just… overall good.’

Love? 

Was… Was that what this was? 

Oh. 

Oh no, this couldn’t be happening. He wasn’t supposed to be in love with his protagonist. 

But this did feel good, when he was with Stanley like this. Narrator had a melancholic smile on his face as he nodded. 

“Yes, it does feel… how did you say it? Fuzzy?” 

‘What do you mean ‘oh no’? What would be so wrong with loving m- your protagonist .’ Stanley looked torn. 

Was the possibility of a relationship that impossible? 

Chapter Text

“No, no, I just-” Narrator stopped mid-sentence. 

How would he put this? He had put so many barriers between the two of them because… because…

Oh god. Had he always loved Stanley? Was he just making up barriers because of his perceived ‘rules’? 

‘Well to hell with the rules and your stupid barriers! There’s nothing stopping us now…right?’ Stanley’s hopeful expression dimmed a bit. 

Narrator chuckled. 

“Well, you are correct there. There really isn’t anything stopping us.” A million doubts flashed across his mind, and he tried his best to dismiss them. 

Stanley sat there, puzzled. 

Was there something Narrator wasn’t telling him? No, surely not. 

Then it dawned on him. He hadn’t even thought if Narrator wanted a relationship… how selfish of Stanley! 

‘I'm sorry I just… got excited, I guess. I can wait if you're not ready. I'm remembering that you still aren’t particularly used to being physical and feelings…’

Narrator was impressed with Stanley’s trust in him. 

There was so much his beloved didn’t know yet, but he wasn’t exactly ready to say what yet. 

“Ah, yes. That is true, but I…” He paused. 

This was happening. He was doing this. 

“I think I'm ready.” And he truly did. This was a step in the right direction, a step away from all of their fights and complicated past, away from all of the hurt they had inflicted on each other for the longest time now. 

Stanley had to process what Narrator said… did he call him his beloved? He was Narrator’s beloved? Stanley? 

His face flushed bright red as he raised his shaky hands to respond. 

‘Okay that's cool, good to know… and you’re right, this could be a new beginning for us.’

Narrator couldn’t help but let out an amused chuckle at Stanley’s reaction to his pet name. 

“Did you like that, Stanley? Being called ‘beloved’?” Since they had gotten past the initial anxieties, now it was time for teasing. 

Stanley was shocked, confuzzled, and internally screaming. He hid his face, but failed to hide the huge smile. 

Narrator’s shrewd smile grew larger. Oh yes, yes he did. He could work with this, yes he could! 

“Stanley~” Narrator leaned in close towards the other man, enjoying the power he had in the current moment. 

“I love you.” He paused, then added. “Darling~”

Stanley peeked at him through his fingers and let out a nervous giggle. 

How dare he. 

"Of course, how dare I." Narrator's voice was a low rumble, a loving one at that. "I'm making you all flustered, am I? What an evil thing I must be…"

Stanley practically died right then and there. He was done for, finished. 

Narrator was evil. 

Stanley let out a tiny squeak and seemed to shrink into himself. Oh ,he would get his revenge… at some point. He would first need to recover from this attack. 

Narrator let out a hearty laugh, leaning back in his original position. 

"Alright, Stanley, I'll back off for now." His shrewd smile had not yet disappeared. "I shudder to think of what you will retaliate with."

Stanley glared fondly at him, moving his hands away from his face. He took a minute to calm himself, his face hurt from smiling. 

Narrator was smiling right back, face also hurting a bit. Ah, the power he wielded, now knowing of Stanley's fondness for pet names. New ideas for endings began brewing. 

Narrator's last comment left Stanley with just a ping of disappointment. He wondered though, what would happen after they reset? 

He hoped Narrator would be able to become physical again. 

"Oh yes, I had forgotten about that." The fuzzy mood that had been surrounding them was replaced with a nervous buzz. "I hope I can as well… are you ready to reset?" 

'Not yet…' 

Stanley leaned over and briefly kissed Narrator on the lips. 

'Now I am.' 

Narrator promptly short-circuited. He was once again red as a beet. 

“Ah- yes- O-of course!” He brought his hand up to his face, while the other typed on an unseen keyboard. His finger hovered over the enter key, and as Narrator turned his face back towards Stanley he entered the command for a manual reset. 

Stanley smirked, satisfied with his result.

And then the reset hit. 

Narrator was slammed with the sensation of his physical body disappearing, his vision returning to his normal 4D range.

Stanley was met with the familiar hallway, but for the first time in a long time, he didn’t mind it.

Narrator hadn’t yet noticed that Stanley was back, and was honestly still reeling from the first reset in a while.

Stanley stepped into the hallway directly outside his office, expecting to hear his Narrator. 

But when he didn’t say anything, worry began to build up. Was something wrong?

This thought of Stanley’s seemed to bring Narrator back to reality. 

“Hmm? Ah! No, no, nothing at all, Stanley.”

Stanley let out a small sigh of relief and continued on his route.

And as Stanley did so, Narrator settled back into his script. 

“When Stanley came to a set of two open doors, he entered the door on his left.”

Stanley decided to play nice and do as he was told.

Narrator was surprised, and let out a little gasp, which was quickly followed by a murmured apology.

Stanley huffed a laugh and continued into the meeting room. 

“And yet there was not a single person here either!” 

Narrator stopped in the middle of his lines, realizing that the doodles Stanley had made during the last reset were still there. 

“Oh! Well look at that, Stanley! Your artwork!”

Stanley looked around, shocked that they had somehow remained. He walked over to his Narrator doodles, going back to the first time he physically saw Narrator. What a good memory. 

He booped one of the drawings and continued to the stairs.

Narrator made a small sound when Stanley touched one of the drawings, almost as if he could feel it. 

Could he feel it? Well, that would be odd, wouldn’t it? This metaphysical form didn’t have a nervous system! 

Still.

He should focus on what Stanley was doing. 

“Ah! Yes! The stairs! When Stanley came to a set of stairs, he went up, as that’s where his boss’s office was.”  Narrator mentally cursed himself. Why now did he get the wording all wrong? 

Well, at least the idea was still there. 

Stanley went up the stairs to the office, but before he entered the doors, he stopped. 

A memory of a previous run came to him; the escape pod. 

Was there a chance it could work now? 

“Stanley? What are you doing?” Narrator was curious, his presence seemingly swirling around Stanley, trying to get a closer look at his face. 

“The…The what? Escape pod?! What in the-”

Narrator cut himself off, only to continue speaking at a lower volume. 

“Stanley? You aren’t telling me that you- that you want to leave , yes?” That truly would be the worst case scenario. Hell, Narrator didn’t even know what was outside the Parable, if anything at all! 

Was Stanley trying to get to the real world? Did he even know that-

No. Stop thinking about that. 

Narrator would tell him later. 

If there was a ‘later’.

‘I mean…we’ve gone through all the endings, the new content, the bucket. Aren’t you at least a little bored?’

“Well, I wouldn’t say that I’m bored per-say. I could- Yes! That’s it!” If Narrator was there physically, he would have clapped his hands together. 

“How about this! More new content!”

‘New… content? Can you even add more without updating?’

“Without…” Narrator paused. Did Stanley already know? 

“Stanley, what did you just say?”

‘What do you mean? I just asked if you needed to update in order to have new installments…’

Narrator was, once again, stunned into silence. But not for long. 

“Stanley? Can I ask you an… odd question?” His voice seemed on the verge of breaking. Very soft, and very quiet.

‘Of course, you can ask me anything.’

Narrator took a deep breath in, squashing down anxieties. 

Guess the ‘later’ was now. 

“What do you think that this world is?”

‘...Oh, oh Narrator.’ Stanley let out a hearty laugh. ‘I’ve known I’m in a game since… hm…let’s just say it’s been a while.’

“Ah.” Narrator was genuinely shocked. 

This talk would definitely be better face-to-face. 

He manifested physically a few feet behind Stanley, fidgeting with the cuffs of his sleeves. 

“Stanley? Do you know any more than that?” 

Narrator wasn’t usually one to beat around the bush so to speak, but now that he and Stanley were– well, let’s just say closer – he didn’t want to break his mind too much. 

‘Hmm… I know that you made this game… I’m the ‘only’ character…’ Stanley wasn’t aware that Narrator had appeared behind him. 

“Anything else?” He was getting there, he just knew it. 

There were only a few words between Stanley and a huge revelation. 

‘I know that the game is called The Stanley Parable: Ultra Deluxe. That’s all I can really think about. Why?’

“I- Well-” 

Narrator couldn’t say it. It was like something was stopping his vocal chords from speaking the truth. 

“Could you turn around? For a second?” Maybe seeing Stanley’s face would make this easier.

Stanley turned to face Narrator, and a mixed look of surprise and happiness crossed his face. 

‘So, what is this about?’

“Well, Stanley, there are a few things I’d like to tell you, and you may not like all of them.” Narrator wasn’t making eye contact, instead choosing to look down at his hands.

Concern filled Stanley, and he gently took one of Narrator’s hands and used the other to sign. 

‘Hey, I’m sure it’ll be fine, whatever you have to say.’

Of course. It would be fine, wouldn’t it? Both of them had bounced back from worse before. 

Narrator took a shaky breath in. 

“Stanley, I- Well, you-” He took another deep breath, steeling himself. 

“Technically speaking, you’re not… real.”

Stanley was silent for a moment. 

He had considered it a possibility, but it was hard to comprehend when you’ve had a life. 

His smile turned sad and he kissed Narrator’s forehead. 

‘I’m ok with that as long as you’re real.’

Narrator let out a small gasp at the kiss, that turned into a nervous chuckle. 

“Ah, well… uhm… about that.”

‘Let me guess, you’re not real either. None of this is real, it’s all just… code.’

Narrator nervously bit his lip, and nodded slowly. 

“I’m not sure where that pod even leads.”

‘Well at least when I put the bucket in it, it went to wherever that desert-like place is..’

“That- What?! You put the bucket in it? Is that how you lost that thing?! I had to get you a new one!” Narrator shook his head. He was getting off track. 

“But- Wha- A desert?”

‘Yeah… the first time I encountered it was… the skip button ending.’

Narrator’s expression darkened immediately. 

He really didn’t like talking about that ending, especially because he didn’t remember the half of it. 

He didn’t know anything that had happened past… oh god, he didn’t know how many years. He especially didn’t know that there was an escape pod in the desert somewhere.

‘I know, I hate it too… but, the thing about the escape pod is that there was a warning in the room before it. It was barely legible, but I could make out some things and I think I pieced something together. It needs both me and you in order for it to work. And I figured with you learning how to become physical, we could… try something new for a change.’

“I- Well-” Narrator took his hand back from Stanley’s grasp and settled it beneath his chin. He’d have to think on it, that’s for sure. Perhaps…

No. This was important to Stanley. If they were going to do this, they were going to do it soon or never. 

Yes. Then it was decided. They would go.

“How about we do one more run of the office, for old time’s sake. Then we can go.” He extended a hand back to Stanley, silently hoping  that he would take it.

Stanley took it gratefully and flashed Narrator a smile. 

Oh, this was exciting!

“Now! Back to the story, yes?” Narrator seemed hopeful, masking his nervousness with a smile. He squeezed Stanley’s hand as he spoke.

Stanley nodded and walked into the boss’s office.

Narrator went back to the script, which he had memorized long ago. 

“Stepping into his manager’s office, Stanley was stunned to discover not an indication of human life! Shocked, unraveled, Stanley wondered in disbelief who orchestrated this?”

Stanley looked around as he usually did and made his way to behind the desk. 

Narrator continued. 

“But what Stanley could not have known was that the keypad behind his boss’s desk held all the secrets his boss had been keeping from him. Therefore, he would have no logical way of knowing that the code was as follows: 2-8-4-5.” He decided to switch up the wording the slightest bit. He would have to handle change if they were really going to go through with the whole escape pod thing.

Stanley put in the code and walked towards the fireplace. His excitement grew with each advancement in the story.

The secret passage way opened and the lights dimmed as usual. Narrator's grip tightened on Stanley's hand, as if he was afraid he would loose him in the darkness. 

"You know what, I think I'll pass on the whole 'feelings' monologue on the lift this time, Stanley." Narrator projected as the two headed to the lift in question.

Stanley made comforting circles with his thumb on Narrator's hand as they headed into the lift. 

Narrator felt himself relaxing again. "Thank you, Stanley."

Chapter Text

As the lift traveled downwards, Narrator found himself studying every little detail of Stanley's face. For no reason of course. He just never noticed some things before. 

Stanley noticed this and smirked. He still had some payback to get. 

'Need a closer look?'

Narrator narrowed his eyes and chuckled, mirroring Stanley's smug expression. Said expression wavered slightly when Stanley began to lean in close. 

He still attempted to play cool, channeling his inner arrogance. 

"This is your idea of revenge? Really Stanley, I thought you'd be able to do better."

Stanley huffed in dissatisfaction and pulled back, crossing his arms as he leaned back on the frame of the lift. He thought he was going good too, damn. 

Narrator was quick to dismiss such thoughts. 

"Oh no, you did just fine, darling. I just have the slightest bit more experience with hiding my own emotions" He had gone back to his low rumble, the same he did during the last reset.

Stanley raised his hands to sign again.  

'Should I be concerned about that statement?'

"Hm? No, I don't think so?" Narrator was honestly confused. Don't humans repress their emotions as well? 

'Just because we do it doesn't mean it's good.' Stanley chuckled.

"Ah. Well, that's confusing." Narrator replied. 

What about evolution? If it was a bad thing, why hadn't natural selection done its thing? 

'It's complicated, to say the least. We humans as a society are built on a construct of lies. Men shouldn't share emotions because it makes them weak, but when they don't they're emotionless pigs. Women are too emotional and need to be more subordinate, but they need personality to be ‘attractive’.

Emotions weigh us down, but at the same time are the things that make us human. Most humans feel the need not to burden everyone else. They bottle everything up because everyone has their own problems they need to deal with and don't need the extra worry on top of their worry. Even if they did share, what would a few words of wisdom do when it feels like your insides are crumbling in on themselves and your brain wants to smash itself out of your skull?' 

Stanley stopped for a brief moment to crack his knuckles. 

'And emotions aren't necessarily a pro or con to human survival. Most people rather focus on money, power, good looks, or all three.' 

"Ah. Well, I see. That makes more sense now. I must be more human than I thought I was. I myself have felt quite a few of those things that you mentioned near the middle there." Narrator was about to go on a rant when the lift jolted to a stop at the bottom. "Ah! Here we are!" 

Stanley contemplated pushing the button to go back up, he was quite enjoying his time in the elevator. But he didn't, and continued forward. 

Narrator followed behind, and went back to the script.

"Stanley stepped through the large door with the sign that read 'Mind Control Facility'." His eyes darted towards the passageway with 'ESCAPE' written on it, and the thought crossed his mind that Stanley might take it. 

But Stanley didn't go down the Escape passage, it was one of the few endings that truly scared him. He quickly went past it and through the large door, passing a quick glare to Narrator that went unnoticed. 

Narrator made a small gasping sound as the two of them walked into the facility.

He had never quite realized just how huge this room was, having only seen it from the metaphysical standpoint. It was a mixture of awe-inspiring and fear triggering. It invoked the sense of worth but also worthlessness. Human lives, reduced to numbers on a screen.

He had never quite understood it until now. 

Stanley on the other hand ignored all the screens and pressed the button to raise the catwalk.

And at once, all of the screens flashed to life, each displaying an employee number and camera feed. Narrator was still looking around in wonderment, but followed along. 

Stanley crossed the catwalk to the next button, then finally looked up at the screens. He'd always wondered where each camera went. Especially the one that had 'PIRATE' instead of numbers. 

"Well, I don't remember exactly where each one goes, but I DO know that each numbered camera is pointed at the corresponding desk, back at your office." Narrator put his hand to his chin.

"As for the Pirate, I'm not quite sure. Perhaps it was a piracy measure that wasn't quite implemented correctly?" He mused, his eyes darting around faster than any normal human's eyes could have gone. 

Stanley shrugged, then continued on to the last button.

Narrator followed behind, vibrating with excitement once more.

"Oh, I'm so excited to see this in person! It's probably much more grand and awe-striking." 

'Oh, it's something.' Stanley laughed.

Narrator was cute when he was excited, like a kid in a candy shop. The red light of the small lift caught his attention again, and he held out a hand for Narrator to take.

Narrator took Stanley's hand, and he stepped onto the lift along with his closest companion. 

When the lift came to a stop, Stanley walked into the control room, still holding Narrator's hand.

Narrator less followed, and more was pulled along as Stanley walked forwards into the control room.

His breath hitched in his chest.

He had forgotten. There was still one last choice.

And now that Narrator was down here, he wasn't sure what would happen if Stanley suddenly decided to be disobedient. 

Stanley stopped and looked back at Narrator. Though, it was more of a gentle glare than just a look.

'It's our last run, I'm not going to be petty and ruin it for you. I know how much this story means to you.'

"Stanley- That… Well, I really hate to say it, but-" Narrator chuckled, shaking his head. "That's one of the nicest things you've ever said to me." He then realized his mistake and smiled awkwardly. "Well- Not… said, but you know what I mean."  

Stanley's expression softened and he rolled his eyes.

'I've said plenty of nice things before, like… How much I love you.' He gave Narrator a gentle tug and continued through the control room. 

Narrator suppressed the urge to press things, and followed close behind.

As the couple made their way towards the main console, Narrator could feel his insides…... almost whirring.

"Uh, Stanley? Do you know if human bodies…... make this type of noise?" 

Stanley listened for a moment, then shook his head. A confused and concerned look spread across his face. 

This look was paralleled by Narrator as the whirring grew louder, then softer as the man reached his hand over the 'Off' button. Oh.  

Stanley's eyes were trained on the off button.

'Yeah, it's going to get dark in a second…'

"What do you mean? I haven't even pressed it yet!" Narrator whirled around, hand still hovering over the button. "I think I know how my story goes, Stanley." It was said in a teasing manner, but if you didn't know the Narrator the way Stanley did it might have been misinterpreted as a genuinely scathing comment. 

'Well, it would be dark if you actually pressed it..' Stanley was tempted to press it himself.

Narrator chuckled, and turned back to the button. His emotions were a mixture of excitement and nervousness.

He turned back towards Stanley.

"Uhm, Stanley? Could I ask you to do something?" 

Stanley nodded.

'What is it?'

"If I happen to… Let's just say… faint when I press this button, could you catch me?"

Narrator had realized that perhaps, he himself was connected to this facility in some way. He wasn't sure exactly which way, however. Maybe, for example, a part of himself was connected to the facility's power. 

'Oh, of course… although, you do have dialogue after the facility is shut down… but yes, of course I will if you do.' 

"Ah, of course!" Narrator was a bit more hopeful at that revelation. "Thank you, Stanley. I..."

Oh god, this was about to get sappy, wasn't it?

"I'm not sure where I'd be without you." Narrator then pressed the Off button.

A strange sensation buzzed through his body, almost like a shiver. But he wasn't cold!

Then, he felt his legs give way and his arms flail to find Stanley. 

Stanley let out a squeak and caught him. 

Blackness surrounded the two, and for once, the chill of uncertainty was not fictional. Narrator could feel his pulse, his chest rising and falling, and most importantly, he felt Stanley's arms around him, holding him up.

He let out a sigh of relief. Well, at least he wasn't unconscious, yes?

Oh! Right! Dialogue!

"Had they done it? Had they won?" 

Stanley sighed along with him, and waited for the blinding light to start spilling in.

And spill in it did. Narrator had to shield his eyes, but peered through his fingers.

"Yes! They had!" This time, the yes sounded genuine. Not that it hadn't before, but this time it was practically buzzing with excitement.

Narrator stumbled to his feet, the script being the last thing from his mind. But an edited version bubbled from his mouth anyway.

"Oh goodness. It's beautiful. Who cares what puzzles lay unsolved, or what mysteries will always stay hidden! This- This… feeling of accomplishment, of genuine happiness, being with the person you love, is all that matters. Perhaps- Yes! Perhaps this is what I was searching for all along." As the great door finished its descent, Narrator looked back towards Stanley, and offered him his hand.

"Stanley and The Narrator stepped through the now open door." 

Stanley took his hand, a feeling of warmth spreading through him seeing how happy Narrator was.

Except… his smile was sad. He knew how this ended, all too well. 

Narrator was the first outside, and he let out quite the odd noise. He seemed mentally on another plane, as he continued to describe what he and Stanley were doing, his mouth seemingly moving on its own.

"Stanley and The Narrator felt the breeze in their hair, the Sun on their faces, and the gravel beneath their feet. This truly was, right now, the way that things were meant to happen." He turned back to look at Stanley. "Stanley, are you happy?" 

Stanley hesitated to answer, but simply nodded and joined Narrator outside.

'This scene really is beautiful, isn't it.'

Narrator nodded in response. It truly was.

Before, all Narrator had seen it as just a bunch of textures and assets jumbled together, but now? It was a sight to behold.  

Stanley observed the scene as he had before. The brick house, the cherry blossom tree, the weeds and grass. He was surprised to think that this would be the ending he missed most.

'You really didn't know how this looked?'

Narrator shook his head.

"Not at all." His voice held a melancholic sentimentality to it.

Something caught Narrator's eye, and he turned to studied Stanley's own eyes. Brown, almost amber. He had never noticed these intricacies before.

If Stanley wanted to get his revenge, this would be quite the time to do it. 

Stanley's gaze finally settled on Narrator.

He didn't think it was possible to be even more in love, yet here he was. He covered his face with a hand and looked away, feeling a flush of warmth through his face. 

Narrator chuckled warmly. Well, he gave it the old college try.

It was time for this moment to be over. Perhaps Stanley could try again, next time.

Narrator entwined his fingers with Stanley's and took a deep breath in, before saying the words that he knew would trigger the reset.

"And Stanley was happy." 

Stanley took one last look of the scenery before darkness cascaded on him like before. He knew nothing would have changed, there was nothing beyond what he could see. And yet, he felt disappointed.

His eyes opened again to the hallway once again.

Narrator took note of that disappointment. But it wasn't the thing he was focused on. He was focused on keeping his physical form stable through the reset. Why not try? 

When Stanley came to in his office again, Narrator's voice was nowhere to be heard. The strange whirring from before was, however, and it was coming from one of the cubicles belonging to Stanley's co-workers. 

Well, this was new.

Stanley stepped into the hallway and to the whirring noise.

And there he was. Narrator's physical form was sitting slumped over in desk 431, breathing slowly.

It had worked. 

Narrator looked so peaceful in that moment. Stanley melted at the sight.

Well, as peacefully as one could be slouched over a desk.

Stanley walked over to him and put a gentle hand on the man's back.

With a jolt, Narrator's head snapped upwards as his eyes flew open. His eyes scanned what was in front of him. Desk, computer, desk light, and...hands. His hands.

"Yes!" Narrator practically jumped to his feet, and did a little happy dance. "It worked~! It worked it worked it worked~!" 

Stanley pulled his hand back quickly with a laugh. 

This was when Narrator noticed Stanley standing there. He grabbed his hands, pulling the other man into his wild dance. 

Stanley simply laughed again and joined him.

Now this… this was happiness.

Narrator began to laugh as well, a real kind of glee that he hadn't felt in ages. The swirling dance slowed down to a waltz, and he felt himself grow warm once again. 

Stanley let out a contented sigh and rested his chin on top of Narrator's head.

And that's when Narrator exploded. Metaphorically, of course.

His heart started pounding very loud, his face got hot, and the whirring came back at full force. 

The sudden intensity took Stanley by surprise and he jumped back a little.

'I'm sorry! Did I do something wrong? Why are you making that sound?'

"No! No!" Narrator sounded concerned.

"Those were just my uhm… cooling fans."

He looked a bit sheepish, and rubbed the back of his neck with one of his hands. "I apologize if they scared you." 

Stanley let out a quick sigh of relief.

'That's good' Stanley paused. 'wait, cooling fans?'

"Yes?" Narrator tilted his head to the side. "What about them?"

Curiosity sparked inside Stanley.

'Where… where are they? How are they in there?' 

"Ah. Uhm. I uh..." He looked very very awkward. "I don't think you want to know."

'Okay then.' Stanley took the hint and shrugged.

Narrator cleared his throat and looked off to the side.

Well, this was awkward.

"Uh, Well- I am sure that you have realized by now, but this form is not exactly one-hundred percent human."

'Ah yes, because the average human can change physical form and make it look like he does it every Tuesday.' Stanley laughed, hoping that would break the tension.

'So now that that's out of the way… you ready to head to the escape pod?' 

Narrator chuckled as well, relaxing a bit.

"You know that's not what I meant, Stanley." However, he tensed right back up as soon as Stanley mentioned the escape pod.

Oh god. They were actually going through with this.

He would have to learn to let go.  

'We could always take the bucket with us if that would make you feel better.'

"No! No, that would NOT make me feel better. You know how I feel about that… thing ." 

Stanley laughed and kissed the top of Narrator's head. 

'I know, I know, I was joking. Shall we get going?'

Narrator promptly short-circuited. 

"Ah- Yes, Yes let's- let's get going."

Stanley's smile grew huge with excitement. 

'Okay, when we get to the boss's office, just wait for a bit and let me do the thing.'

"The- the thing? Stanley, what thing do you mean?" Narrator tilted his head in confusion.

'Well, to get to the escape pod, I would...let's just say lock you in the boss's office? And all the doors behind me would then be unlocked.'

"You- you what?" Narrator's face fell. "Stanley, you don't need to do that for me to open a door for you! You could have just asked!"

'I didn't know that! Honestly the first time I did it was an accident, I wanted to go back and see if I could get in the elevator then the doors closed… anyways, you can do that?'

"Of course, Stanley! You saw me open the doors from the meeting room to the employee lounge last reset, yes?" Narrator's smug smile returned.

‘Oh yes, I forgot about that.' 

Was that last reset? It felt so long ago. 

'Well then…' Stanley walked back towards his office and stopped in front of the escape pod door. 

'If you would be so kind…'

Chapter Text

Narrator smirked, raising an eyebrow before gesturing vaguely to the door. It opened, of course. 

"After you, darling."

Stanley simply smiled and proceeded through the door.

Narrator followed close behind,  trying to be as composed as possible. 

Stanley ascended the many, many, familiar stairs, checking on Narrator every so often. 

When the last flight of stairs was conquered, he pushed open the door to a pitch black room.

Narrator's breathing was a bit shaky both from climbing so many flights of stairs and from nerves. He came up close behind Stanley, and peerled out over his shoulder. 

"Oh? Is this it?" It was said quietly, with a slight waver to it.

Stanley nodded and held out a hand to Narrator. He didn't want to loose him In the darkness.

Narrator took it quickly and gratefully. It seemed like he was shaking the slightest bit.

Stanley gave Narrator a gentle squeeze, then walked into the darkness. 

For a moment, the only things that seemed to be in the room were the footsteps of the two men. But eventually, a light appeared ahead, and in the light was something red and shiny.

The escape pod.

Narrator let out a small gasp. 

This was it, wasn't it? Once they went, they would never come back. 

"Stanley… I…"

Stanley let go of Narrator's hand and put his own hand on the pod, letting out a breath he’d been holding. He looked back and smiled at Narrator. 

'I've never made it this far, besides with the bucket.'

Narrator sadly smiled back. 

"I'm glad I could give this to you."

Stanley's smile slowly dropped, and his eyes darted from the pod back Narrator. 

'...We don't have to do this if you're not ready.' He took Narrator's hand again and gave it a gentle squeeze.

"No, I-" Narrator took a deep breath. "I need to let go."

Stanley pulled Narrator into a quick hug, then stepped inside the capsule. It was just big enough for two people to fit.

"Oh-" 

Stanley looked for something to start the pod, and a button caught his eye. 

When he pressed it, the door slammed shut, and the sound of engines turning on greeted his ears.

Narrator's eyes widened with shock, and he yelled to be heard over the whirring. 

"Stanley?! What did you just do?!!"

Excitement shown in his eyes as he grinned from ear to ear. 

'I just started our journey to freedom.' 

The pod vibrated for a moment before Stanley could feel it lift off the ground. 

In a few moments, he would be free of the Stanley Parable. 

No more predetermined choices. 

No more feeling suffocated. 

He would be able to do as he pleased with no restrictions.

"Stanley, I hate to interrupt your train of thought-" Narrator said, as he clung to whatever he could to stay steady "-but you felt...suffocated? By my game? Stanley, you could have told me before this!"

Oh god, he could have prevented this! If he had just been the slightest bit more proactive- asked more questions, perhaps -none of this could have happened. 

Of course, he was grateful for the new experience, but jumping from physical form to leaving in two resets was quite the trip. It wasn't like he could do anything about it now, of course. 

Narrator felt his stomach turn from anxiety and the rapid gain of elevation.  

'Well how was I supposed to know? Anytime I tried to do anything different you had snarky comments! I threw myself off the bloody stairs and yet we still continued on after! I thought if we at least went through every single ending no bucket, with bucket, speed run, and every achievement there is in this game, you would get bored as well.' Stanley leaned back with a sigh. 

'I'm sorry for making you do this, I really am, and I probably could've waited longer. But I was just dying to do something my way, for once.' 

This was probably the most Stanley had signed to the Narrator, ever. It took the latter a second to process what exactly the former had said, but when he did, he…sighed in resignation. 

"Well, I…I suppose I could have…done better." 

'...no, I'm sorry…you didn't do anything wrong.' 

Silence filled the pod. Not even the pod was making noises any more

Oh god.

The pod's engines had stopped. 

A little speaker turned on. 

"Warning; Prepare for descent."

"Stanley, what does that mean?! Auh-" 

Then the pod then began to plunge towards the earth at a breakneck pace. The Narrator felt his head become light then heavy, then blackness enveloped his vision as he lost consciousness.

Stanley held on a little longer and grabbed Narrator's hand. This must’ve been terrifying for him.

A red light had begun to flash, and the speaker turned on again.

 "Prepare for Landing.". 

Something jerked the pod upwards, making Stanley hit his head, and he too then blacked out.

Chapter Text

When the Narrator came to, he wasn't there in the physical. 

Well, that was a good sign, at least. 

Or was it bad? He couldn't tell, his brain– Did he even have one of those?- felt like it was foggy, almost a sort of half-consciousness. 

The two things he was sure of however, were that 1.) They were definitely not in the Parable anymore

And 2.) He couldn't see Stanley.

—-------

Stanley's body hurt. A lot. He lightly touched the back of his head and gasped in pain. When he pulled his hand back he noticed the shine of dark red blood on his fingers.

He got up shakily,brushing the sand off his arms. He looked around, and recognition his him.

It was the same desert at the end of the skip ending. 

It worked. 

But Stanley couldn't celebrate right now, he had to see if Narrator was okay. 

He looked back at the craft to see it in flames, and his heart skipped a beat. He quickly rushed over, but found nothing.

Good, Narrator had gotten out.

—-------

Narrator scanned the sand, looking for his companion, his protagonist, his Stanley. 

Still in this half-awake haze, he heard himself calling out Stanley's name, but wasn't quite aware that he was speaking. 

Oh god, what if he never found him? What would happen then? 

Would they both be resigned to a life, forever alone amongst this sea of a desert? 

—-------

Stanley heard Narrator's voice and scanned his surroundings. But he couldn't see anything.

He walked in the direction he had heard the voice, yet found nothing still. However the familiar hovering presence suggested otherwise.

—-------

"What if he had to stay like this, alone for the rest of however long he lived?" Narrator seemed to be murmuring to himself in the third person, unaware of Stanley's presence. 

"The Narrator didn't even know how long he would live! Was he immortal? Just very old? He didn't have a clue! Oh goodness, he didn't even know how long Stanley would live! What- what if the Narrator was immortal, but Stanley was not? Oh, nononono, that would truly be the worst possible scenario." He continued to ramble to himself. Every little thing that passed through his mind was spilling out of his mouth.

—-------

 He could hear his man panicking

Stanley tried waving his arms around.. He jumped up and down, but still that didn't work. 

Visuals weren't working, he would have to… call to him somehow. 

Stanley took a deep breath.

 "NARRATOR!" 

His hand covered his mouth. 

Holy shit.

Narrator stopped dead in his tracks. 

There was a few seconds of silence before his consciousness fully came back.

 "STANLEY?! Oh my goodness! You're here! You're here! And-" He had to pause, to process what had just happened. "You- you spoke?"

Stanley was still processing what he had just done. He didn't just speak, he yelled.

"I… I did… I'm s-speaking..." He flopped down onto the sand, his hand sliding down to his throat. 

Was this because he was out of the game's code? Has he had this voice this entire time?

Narrator focused less on his own racing thoughts, and more on making his form physical once more. 

He closed his eyes, slowly materialized, and when he opened his eyes again, he let out a little woop of victory. He then rushed over to Stanley. 

"Could you...always..?" 

Stanley simply shrugged. 

"I don't know..." He looked back at Narrator. "Are you alright? Did you get hurt or anything?"

"No, Stanley." Narrator smiled, this time genuinely. "I'm perfectly fine."

Stanley smiled back. 

"That's good to hear." He got back onto his feet and looked back at the pod. "If I remember, we just need to walk for a little while and we'll get to your Memory palace. It might be best to stay there for a bit before figuring out what to do next…"

Narrator's eyes lit up. 

"Ah! Yes! The memory zone!" He then processed what Stanley had just said. "If you- Stanley? Have you- Have you been here before?"

"It was part of the skip button ending. I remembered the one time I put the bucket into the escape pod, it showed up a few feet away from your Memory Zone, so I figured it would be close by."

"Part of the- what?" He replied, his worldview shifting the slightest bit. Why didn't he… remember any of that? "I mean, yes, I praise you on your logical reasoning skills, Stanley, but..." He trailed off.

"The skip button? It was after you showed me the Memory Zone and all of the comments kind of got into your head so you made a skip button. But each time I pressed the button, I was gone for longer and longer and longer until the end of the world happened and you… you weren't responsive, anymore." Stanley's smile dropped.

"I… wasn't...." Narrator tried to think back. Of course, he remembered the Memory Zone and those damn reviews, but everything afterwards was somewhat foggy. 

"You don't… remember it at all?" A passing look of concern crossed Stanley's face. 

Narrator could only shake his head. 

"Perhaps it's for the best, yes? But, all the same..." He pondered this problem for a few seconds. "I would like to know. I would like to remember."

"...Yeah, I think it's best you don't remember… let's go find the memory zone, shall we?" 

Narrator's tone turned stern. 

"Stanley. I know you're switching the topic on me; it's a strategy I myself employ. I would like to know. Whatever happens to me, I won't blame you for it. I- and I know this may be hard to fully trust in but… I promise."

Stanley sighed and looked away from Narrator. 

"...I think you died , Narrator. Hundreds of years had passed… the last thing I heard from you was you repeating 'The End is Never the End'. At least, that's what I've believed…"

"Is that all?"

"Yeah pretty much… I mean, you had your rants about how the game wasn't supposed to be funny, and how they want you to 'entertain them' and stuff… but that's about it."

Narrator scoffed. 

"Ugh. Tell me about it. Those types of people are the worst for us creative-types, you know? Just constantly asking for more, more, MORE without any care that the person making those things is, in fact, a person! It infuriates me, Stanley, it really does! They seem to find fault in- well, everything! I understand that you can't please everyone, but dammit! Some people are trying too hard not to be pleased." He paused for a second, as if hit in the back of the head with something. "Wait- I- You-" 

"What?" 

A thousand million years of waiting flashed before the Narrator's eyes in mere seconds. He seemed to process this for a bit, before looking back up at Stanley, tears in his eyes. "You came back."

A confused look dawned on Stanley's face. 

"What do you mean?"

Narrator suddenly shot forward, bringing Stanley into a tight hug, murmuring soft sadnesses over his shoulder.

Stanley didn't question it and instead rubbed Narrator's back comfortingly. As confused as he was, Narrator was in distress.

Slowly but surely, that distress died down, the muttering slowing to a crawl.

"You alright, my love?"

Narrator physically froze. He had to process what Stanley had just said. 

"Do you want to talk about it? We've got all the time in the world right now for whatever you need." 

A slow nod, a murmured yes. 

He gently pulled away to look at Narrator. 

"Whenever you’re ready, my dear."

There was an almost hollow look to the Narrator's eyes. He was sniffling a small bit, and when he finally spoke, his voice was raw and scratchy. 

"Stanley I- I remember."

"You remember the skip button?" His voice was soft and he gently traced a circle on the back of Narrator's hand. 

Narrator slowly nodded.

"It was stupid of me. To even make the damned thing." The repetitive motion of Stanley tracing a circle was comforting.

"Well, I won't say it was the smartest decision you've made." Stanley let out a soft chuckle. "But don't beat yourself up about it, I know that wasn't really you making it, you were just trying to make some idiot happy."

Narrator let out a melancholic chuckle of his own. 

"Quite the idiot. Who even eats nine cookies in one sitting?" His lips turned up into a small smile that was quickly wiped away. "Stanley, I- Seeing you just… frozen there, unmoving was… scary, almost. I think I said this before, but the look in your eyes when you-" His breath shuddered. "-when you pressed that button. I just knew that..." His breath hitched in his chest, and he fought down sobs. "I knew you were gone." 

"I'm sorry I put you through that… I tried to stay as long as possible but I knew the longer I waited the longer we would be stuck in there." He pulled Narrator in for another hug.  

"The longer YOU would be stuck in there, you mean." Narrator was stiff, but still leaned into the hug. 

Stanley paused, then hesitantly pulled away from Narrator. 

"Are you...mad at me about it?"

Narrator had to think for a moment. There were so many feelings swirling around in his brain, it was almost overwhelming. Was he angry? Perhaps a little bit. Stanley could have stayed; they both would have kept their sanity that way. 

But could he stay angry? 

…He couldn't. 

"I was. But not now. I can't be."

Stanley went quiet for a moment. He could understand why Narrator would be mad, but it wasn’t like Stanley could have done anything different. 

"Okay..." 

There was a long moment of silence before Narrator spoke again. 

"Stanley? I missed you.”

"What do you mean by that?"

Narrator could only repeat himself. 

"I missed you."

It took Stanley a moment for the words to sink in before he responded. 

"I missed you too, Narrator."

A small gasp, as Narrator pulled Stanley back into a hug. The odd type of smile-crying began again, as the waterfall of tears made its way out of his eyes.

Stanley wrapped his arms around Narrator and rested his chin on Narrator's head with a sigh.

"I love you so much, Narrator."

The addressed could only nod. These feelings were overwhelming, he thought. But this was not a problem, no not at all.

After a long moments of embracing, Stanley finally pulled away. 

"Are you ready to move on?"

Narrator nodded again. Yes, he thought he was. It was time to move on. 

A small smile formed on Stanley's lips. 

"Okay. Let's get to the Memory Zone, since it's the only shelter I know is out here." He moved a bit further away and held his hand out for Narrator to take.

Narrator took it, almost greedily. He didn't want to lose Stanley again. 

Stanley guided the way back to the broken pod, then let his muscle memory take over. The Memory Zone soon appeared before them, the back half seemed to be sunk into the sand.

Narrator let out an involuntary gasp. The Memory Zone, the building that he had created as a hideaway, was now ruined. 

God, he hated sand.

Stanley went inside to find that it was the same as it had been. He wasn't expecting anything different, but still… 

A thought crept to the edge of his mind and he paused. No, no it had to have worked, he had to trust that it had. He immediately brushed it off.

Narrator was still looking around in a mixture of wonderment and disgust. 

Oh, how time had not been kind to his creation.

"I know it looks… like crap, but we can fix it. There's a generator outside so there's power at least, and a computer at the end of all this. Maybe if we're lucky enough, there will be some… I guess internet connection..."  

"Oh, yippee. An internet connection." Narrator used his most sarcastic tone, even though he was still partially grieving over the loss of his beautiful Memory Zone.

Stanley shook his head and smiled. 

"You can join me if you want, I'm just heading down."

"Of course I'll come with you, Stanley! What do you take me for?!" His voice slipped into the high-pitch, like it did when he was nervous. He doubled his hold on Stanley's hand.

He gave Narrator a gentle squeeze and laughed. 

"Just be careful, the sand can be uneven." And with that, he started his way down to the computer. 

On his way down, he looked over everything he saw, wanting to see something different. Any indication that it had worked. 

No, of course it had worked, he followed the instructions on the wall! 

But the farther they went, the uncertainty grew.

His uncertainty was paralleled by Narrator. 

"Stanley, I don't remember any of this being here! What is all this? No, no! None of this was ever in the Memory Zone before."

"It um, shows up in the Epilogue..." Stanley slid down the hill of sand and helped Narrator down after. 

"It has a little bit of everything sprinkled around, like your reviews, and the Jim buttons, etcetera..." He motioned to the yellow circles scattered on the floor, and his hand paused for a moment, a warm smile playing on his lips

"My button is there too…then the Stanlerine Figlys… after the first time you come here they disappear." They walked down a dark hallway and Stanley imagined all the little figurines floating in the air. "Then the computer room." They entered a dark room in which the only light was coming from behind a broken wall in front of them.

"Computer room?" Narrator was now more curious than disgusted. "What...what is this? There shouldn't be a computer here!"

Narrator, still holding Stanley's hand, walked around the desk to see the monitor on it.

[Hello again.]

[Wait, what the hell?]

"Oh, you're still here?" Stanley's head tilted to the side. Had she come with them when they left?

[Yes?]

[I’m just confused as to why HE'S here.]

Narrator's face scrunched up. 

"Now what is that supposed to mean? Stanley do-" He gestured between the computer and his companion "-do you know each other? If so, how?"

"Narrator is here because we took the escape pod. We're finally free." A wide smile spread across his face, then he turned to Narrator. "Yeah, this is 432. Most of our interactions come from the sliders before entering the game. She's in the Epilogue, and we decided to start messing with the titles. Some of them were hilarious! My favourite one was A Door to Two Boyfriends… and you watch your tone when talking about my Narrator." 

Narrator was honestly confused. 

"Titles? What-? Huh? Stanley, I do apologise, but there is so much I just don't- I don't understand."

[Haha, okay, fine.]

[Didn’t know you were dating or whatever.]

[Wait a second, you took that thing?]

[Damn.]

"Don't worry, I'll answer any questions you ask after we settle in for a bit." He glanced back down at the monitor "What's that supposed to mean?"

[Oh.]

[You didn't know?]

[The pod doesn't actually do anything. He was never supposed to be able to go with you to it.]

[Learn something new every day, I guess.]

[I suppose it's just fast travel here now.]

[You didn't actually think you were free, did you?]

"What?" Narrator's voice was soft, about to break from a weird type of anger and frustration.

[Whatever. Doesn't matter to me.]

[See you soon.]

The computer then shut off, taking the lights with it. A yelp came from the Narrator, and he clutched onto Stanley as a reset hit. 

Chapter Text

Stanley stared into the hallway in front of him. Numbness washed over him, and the sounds of buzzing lights became muffled. 

No… no this… no no no… 

"No no no no no no nonononono..." He felt himself walk into the room in front of him, then the next. 

The bucket was there. 

The desks were where they had always been. 

His breathing quickened and became more shallow. 

No no no no, this wasn't… he was free… he was supposed to be free… he felt himself fall to his knees as he gripped his pounding head. It felt like it was going to explode into millions of little pieces. Tears poured from his eyes, and a ringing sound blared in his ears. This wasn't supposed to happen.

"-nley? Stanley?! Goodness, what's going on? I can tell that you aren't okay, that's for sure." A rustling sound could be heard, as Narrator's voice got further away. "Hang on, I'm coming down there." 

Stanley felt a hand on his back, then another. It seemed this was Narrator's best attempt at a hug. 

Narrator's own mind was pounding from Stanley's thoughts, and his only goal right now was to get them quiet, and to calm Stanley down. He guessed those came hand in hand.

The room began to spin, but the ringing quieted down. The hands on Stanley’s back seemed to help, but only a little. 

He was so stupid. So so stupid. 

Of course there was no escape. It was all a game. A big, stupid game, where nothing was real and nothing mattered. He was only a pawn to be played. 

And Narrator… oh, Narrator… he pulled him all that way for nothing, all that stress and anxiety for absolutely nothing. 

"I'm sorry, I'm so sorry, I'm sorry..." He managed between gasps. This was all so stupid. Stupid stupid stupid…

"No! Stanley, you are not stupid, and you have no need to apologize. If I didn't want to go, I wouldn't have. I would have resisted, and argued, and been just as stubborn as you are sometimes. But I went."

The truth was, a long time had passed since the last time Narrator had thought of Stanley as anything less than a human being, much less a pawn to be played with. And if nothing was real? 

"Nonsense, Stanley. Even if this world isn't real, even if we ourselves are not real, our bond, our relationship. That is real. And that is all that matters. You are real to me."

The room slowly stabilised itself, and Stanley was left feeling lightheaded and numb. His breathing had slowed back down and the crying had stopped. 

He shakily shifted himself into a sitting position, wiping his face dry. 

What he saw in front of him was definitely not a form the Narrator had taken before. It was as if Stanley was looking directly into a galaxy, right up at the stars. The hands on his back felt cold, but comfortingly so. The voice came from above his head this time. 

"There. Are you feeling a slight bit better, Stanley?" 

Stanley stared at the form in front of him and nodded slightly. After a few moments, he was able to muster up a whisper; "...You're beautiful."

Stanley could see the form shift a little. 

"Ah- wh- oh. I was in such a hurry I forgot to- oh I am so sorry Stanley, I didn't mean for you to see me like this." Was he scared? Why wasn't he scared? This form definitely wasn't the easiest on the human mind, that's for sure.

Stanley was entranced by the slow swirls of purples and blues, and twinkling dots.

"Could… could you stay like this? Just for a little bit... Please..." He gently reached for one of the hands on his back and held it up in front of him, studying every movement.

Stunned silence, and the galaxies changed from the purples and blues to pinks and magentas. 

"I- Well… Of course, Stanley."

A tired smile dawned Stanley's face. 

"Thank you..." He closed his eyes with a sigh and nuzzled his warm face into the cold hand. It was like putting an ice pack on your face after being in the sun all day.

A jolt of compassion shot through Narrator's heart, that settled down to a steady stream. The only thing that mattered right now was keeping the man in his arms safe. 

After a few moments of silence, Stanley opened his eyes again. "

...I was going to say I wish we could do this forever, but uh, heh, I guess we can...in all seriousness though, where do we go from here…"

Narrator sighed. He knew this question was coming. Where WOULD they go from here? "Well, perhaps we could make something more. Together."

"I'd like that… but what should we make?"

Narrator paused. 

"Hm." 

What would they make? Narrator didn't think that new endings were quite enough this time. They had just gone to hell and back -metaphorically. 

It was time for even more.

"...Maybe a place for us? Somewhere we can go outside of the office, accessible at any time."

The galaxies went back to the purples and blues, but with the stars shining brighter. 

"Yes! That's it, thank you Stanley!" 

But to make those things, especially something as large as another Memory Zone, it would take The Narrator time. Time away from Stanley.

Stanley frowned at the last thought. 

"Narrator, you don't have to do this alone… if it's something we want to make together, I want to be a part of it. If it's just you doing everything then… it's your place."

"Oh. Well, I suppose that is correct." He sighed. "I do apologise, Stanley. I've been so used to working alone."

"You don't have to anymore." His face softened into a smile.

A staggering thought hit Narrator. Wait a second.

"Stanley- I really do hate to say it, but I'm not exactly sure how you CAN help."

"Well, I can help design! You know, have a say in where things go."

The galaxies that had been so comforting seconds prior flashed reds and oranges. No, no, no! That wouldn't do either! Anyone other than himself would mess things up.

"...Excuse me?" Stanley's eyes widened with shock.

Narrator's form began to flicker, reminiscent of a fire despite still being cold. Jolts of 'oh no I messed up' mixed with 'but I am right' shot across his being. 

"I said." He had to make his point. He had tried to be gentle about it. Now it was time to be firm. "Anyone other than my own self would only mess things up."

Stanley scoffed. 

"Then let's not do it, okay? You're not going to make another Memory Zone for yourself then try to advertise it for both of us." He slowly began to smile and shook his head. 

This was ridiculous, hadn't they gotten past the control freak?

Narrator's voice increased in volume, form beginning to get warmer by the second. 

"When did I ever say it was 'for myself', Stanley? To be honest, I wasn't even THINKING about myself! Whatever it was was supposed to be for you. And CONTROL FREAK?! I am truly sorry that I have STANDARDS, Stanley."

Stanley let out a harsh laugh. 

" Standards? Oh Narrator, I hate to break it to you, but your standards suck . This office is probably the most basic thing you could have ever made! If your standards were so high, I think you would've done something… more."

Narrator's voice rose to a shriek. 

"More?! Do you know how hard it was to even make THIS?! Do you know just how many times I had to debug and troubleshoot and FALL THROUGH THE GODDAMN FLOOR just to make sure you wouldn't have to do the same? I tested collision on EVERY LITTLE THING IN THIS OFFICE. I made a WORKING PIANO. I made the LEAVES RUSTLE in the Freedom ending knowing I would NEVER SEE THEM DO SO."

"I'm sorry you think your game is oh so perfect just because of some baseline things needed for a game to run properly. Yes, the leaves were nice, for the 30 seconds I got to see them. " Stanley took in a deep breath. "Please, Narrator, I don't want to have a screaming battle with you. Just let me help!"

"No! I CANNOT have you helping, Stanley!" Narrator was fuming at this point, form burning with rage. "What if you got lost within the game's code?! I would never be able to find you again! AND this is way more than the BASELINE, Stanley. This entire game could have been a 2-D pixel game, but I put the CARE to make 3D models for EVERYTHING."

"Narrator, I'm sure I would be fine! And I'm not asking to build anything, I want to help design the place! It cannot be OUR place if it's all YOUR work." He crossed his arms, shifting away from Narrator.

"I just cannot allow that, Stanley! I do have my own reasons, you know, mainly protecting you!"

Stanley's eye seemed to twitch. Protection? He didn't need protecting! He wasn't fragile! It's not like he hasn't been lost before, a reset was always an option. Stanley shook his head and waved at Narrator dismissively. 

"Do what you want, I'm not arguing over this."

Narrator had to make his point. "You are more fragile than you think, Stanley! I would know that! Do you know how many times I have watched you break?"

"I. Am. Not." His posture became rigid as his control on his frustration slipped. "I am not fragile, in fact I would say I'm far from it. Anyone would go insane from being stuck on an endless loop, in fact I think you would too if you were in my position. I've had to sit through day after day after day, reset after reset, doing the same God damn thing over, and over again. And yet here I am! Still intact after all these fucking years! And don't think you're invincible, we're both fucking code. We can BOTH get lost. You might be some omnipotent presence, but we are both cut from the same damned cloth. I am not fragile."

Narrator chuckled darkly. 

"I do believe that you're forgetting, Stanley. I have as much of a repetitive job as you, perhaps even more! The difference between you and me is that I know my way around the code. I MADE the code, Stanley. This is MY game." His voice rose. "You have not gone insane because you were made SPECIFICALLY NOT TO."

"I think I'm going to go insane listening to your incessant screaming...or deaf. If you really knew your way around the code, some of the stuff I've brought up shouldn't have been a surprise, so I'm doubtful. Greatly, doubtful."

"You cannot go deaf. You cannot go insane." Narrator's form began to slowly shift towards Stanley, punctuating each sentence with a step. "You were made SPECIFICALLY THAT WAY FOR A REASON."

"Why!? Why not, Narrator!? Was it so you could be in constant control knowing you wouldn't have resistance!?"

"Well OBVIOUSLY not! You continue to defy me EACH and EVERY DAY. No matter WHAT we do, there is ALWAYS pushback."

"You wanna know where those decisions go? The same fucking endings! Narrator, no matter what I do, no matter what choices there are, it's all calculated. Routes that YOU'VE calculated. It's all a story! It's all the same story! Every little thing is the same, why don't you understand!?" Frustrated tears pricked at the corners of Stanley's eyes. "Every time there's a chance to do something different, it gets fucked! Narrator please, don't be the thing stopping me from finally doing something different. I just… I need something different. Something new. "

Narrator saw no tears through his rage. 

"And I am saying that it takes TIME, Stanley! This entire discussion has been fruitless! All we are doing is going in circles! I am SORRY that everything I have made isn't enough for you. I am SORRY it is CONFINING and RESTRICTIVE but it was made SPECIFICALLY FOR YOU. Do you think that this office came before you did? No. That belligerent thought is FAR from the truth." Narrator took another step towards Stanley, space-like form sneering down at the man. 

"This ENTIRE WORLD only exists because I could not make a GODDAMN CHOICE." Narrator's voice began to thunder, coming from every crack and crevice in the office. "I GAVE you the right to make choices, Stanley, even if they were strict and confining and binary. DO YOU THINK that you are the way you are because of yourself?! DO YOU THINK that some faceless deity that you haven't even MET is your creator?! I MADE YOU!"

Stanley's face was set as a cold glare at Narrator, however the tears running down his face portrayed a different emotion. 

He had nothing left to say to Narrator. He didn't want to say anything to him. If he tried saying anything he knew he would break down right then and there, and he wasn't in the mood for anymore of Narrator's snide comments. 

He looked away and raised his shaky hands to sign. 

'Your pawn needs some time to himself. Go make your stupid room. Have fun.' He turned and left down the hallway, feeling the heavy lump in his throat tighten.

Narrator felt himself becoming smaller. 

What had he done. 

What had he DONE?!  

Tears burned through the galaxies, revealing the human form underneath. 

Just when they were getting better, he had gone and messed it all up. Only because he couldn't collaborate. Because everything had to be perfect. 

He collapsed to his knees, his own sobs wrenching their way out of his throat. He hoped Stanley couldn't hear him. He didn't want to cause him any more harm.

How would he do that though? Every time, this happens. 

And then, Narrator had an idea. 

If he went away, if he left, he wouldn't be able to hurt Stanley anymore. 

Stanley would be free to do whatever he wanted. Without him.