Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

[ What does it mean to love? ]

To love something, or someone, means that you care. Even if sometimes it’s difficult, or disheartening, or even painful, you would bear that burden if it meant the best for them.

No matter what.

So in a way, love is…

…

[ What does it mean to love? ]

…

……

“Sacrifices!”

Floory exclaimed, much more cheerily than one would expect when contrasted with what he actually said. He struggled to hold in his laughter and keep a smiling face when he saw Mephone stare at him, bewildered. It was obviously a joke, but after everyone wanted him off the island so badly, including actually trying to kill him, The Floor thinks the joke was warranted. “We make them fight to the death, last one standing gets immunity!”

“Absolutely not.” Mephone eventually said in his usual deadpanned tone, which prompted a small giggle from him. “As much as it would be funny, I can’t afford what happened with Ballpoint Pen again.”

“So the death part wasn’t the deal breaker?”

“You know me well enough to know that.”

The Floor laughed. He and Mephone were once again pitching challenge ideas, even though Mephone would probably get the final say anyway, he’d reckon. Still, he still wanted to suggest some things…That, and they decided to have their meetings at the pic-nix table so Floory could eat as much as his little heart desires! Win-win.

“What haven’t I tried…oh! Strawberry mochi!” And in a flash, said dessert appeared on the table. The Floor teleported up on it and munched down, gone within seconds. Yum! “Mm…does anything ever taste bad? I don’t think anything I’ve tried here is worse than par.”

“The pic-nix table is just a good cook, any food can be bad if done wrong.” Mephone commented, picking up a cookie from the plate he summoned earlier. “Also don’t get too distracted, we’re here for a meeting.”

“Says you.” Floory mumbled and ignored Mephone’s glare entirely. “Well, you’re going to decide on the challenge anyway, right? I’m just here to make sure it can happen.” He said off-handedly, getting closer to the plate of cookies. He tried to take a bite without literally consuming the entire plate, thankfully Mephone pitied him and fed him one.

Mephone rolled his eyes. “I guess, but I still want your input, even if they’re terrible most of the time. We are a team now, after all…Begrudgingly.”

He was taken off-guard. In fact, Floory almost choked on the cookie, but instead of getting flustered, he kept himself together.

“Awww, you do care!” The Floor mused after he was done eating and regained most of his composure, trying not to show that such a simple comment could get him so elated. “Dare I say we’re the perfect pair!”

“I wouldn’t go that far.” Despite the harsh words, The Floor could see Mephone smiling. It made him smile too, and it made him almost zone out when Mephone started talking again. “No matter, do you have any better ideas that don't involve violence? I would never hear the end of it, I have to make this perfect…What about—”

Mephone went on a tangent, and Floory listened intently, making comments here and there because of course he would. He could listen to Mephone talk all day, in fact.

He smiled at the thought. Yeah. Yeah, he could listen to him all day, couldn’t he? Mephone could be going on about something he knows nothing about, and he’d be there, listening intently like the days would never end. He felt his face reddened, but pushed down the thought rushing through his head.

But he knew, despite everything, it could never be.

How else would it go? Mephone was a successful game show host with the eyes of the public around him, and The Floor was just…y’know, him. Mephone was out of his league, anyone would know that. He was fine with it.

Mephone was still talking.

And listen he did.

——————

After the long meeting that practically went nowhere, Mephone had left to try and develop his challenge ideas by himself. That meant Floory had some time to himself too. 

He didn’t particularly enjoy being alone though, and he certainly didn’t want to now. So he did the first thing he thought of; popping around and trying to find someone to talk to.

It didn’t take long to find that someone at all.

“Hey Cabby!”

Floory greeted his former alliance member with his usual optimistic tone. He couldn’t help but be a little concerned when she let out a short scream out of surprise, which he usually wouldn’t be since it happened so often, but Cabby was…not in a great emotional state, to say the least.

“Oh…” Cabby looked down at him and sighed. “Greetings, The Floor.”

“Sorry for scaring you.” He replied sheepishly, to which Cabby shook her head with a small, but seemingly genuine smile. “It’s quite alright, I should be used to it by now anyway.”

The short silence was awkward, which was not his plan in the slightest. So, he scrambled to start the conversation back up. “So…How have you been holding up? You were pretty, uh, rattled last time we properly spoke.”

He didn’t want to directly bring up the deep, personal issues she shared with him, and it seems like Cabby didn’t either. “I think…I think I’m doing as good as I possibly can right now. Still trying to figure out what to do next after everything.”

Cabby looked to the side, rolling slightly away from him. Floory moved next to her.

“I’m always free to talk whenever you’re ready, if you want.”

Cabby was quiet for a while, and The Floor didn’t mind much. He knew she needed time. Eventually, Cabby answered. “You know what? I think I’ll take you up on that offer, in due time.” 

The Floor nodded, happy that he was of use and reliable, enough to comfort Cabby in her time of need. He and Cabby may not have agreed on everything, but he recognized her drive to change. She was trying, and that’s all that mattered to him. He smiled at Cabby reassuringly. “I’ll be there for you when you need it, I promise.”

“And I, you.” Cabby promised him back.

The two shared a smile. The Floor was about to say something, but got cut off when someone else walked up to them.

“My my, what’s this? Trying to give advantage to your former teammate? Hm?”

“Hey Silver Spoon.” Floory deadpanned back. After finding out the man was literally putting the idea of literally trying to kill him in people’s heads during the challenge, he didn’t particularly feel like he wanted to talk to him. Still, The Floor was an assistant now, it was his job to put up with it. He took a glance at Cabby’s small frown before turning to Silver. “Did you need any help?”

Turns out, Silver wasn’t the only one there. Walking with him was Candle, who simply waved at both him and Cabby. Cabby rolled back slightly, averting her eyes. The Floor himself only smiled at her, right before Silver started talking again.

“I don’t need your help, dear. You’re the literal floor, there’s nothing you could do for me.” He huffed, crossing his arms. “We simply saw you and her conversing, and we suspect some foul play.”

Candle sighed beside him, shaking her head. “Don’t drag me into this.”

Floory knew this was an attempt to get into their head of some kind, or maybe he really was scared he’d give Cabby an unfair advantage. Nevertheless, The Floor kept his tone still. “Why would I do that? I think I’m still allowed to talk to people, Cabby and you two included.”

“Puh! Surely you see the issue.” Silver scoffed. “You have some say over the show now, you can rig things to your former alliance’s favor. You should not be allowed to talk to any of us outside of the competition.”

“Silver Spoon, I do not think—”

Before Candle could finish her sentence, The Floor couldn’t help but defend himself. “Sorry mate, but just because I’m an assistant now doesn’t mean I can’t talk to contestants.” He stated firmly, raising a brow. “You don’t get a say in what I do or don’t do, it’s literally in my job title to help.”

“Puh! You say that like any of us need any help from you of all people.” Silver argued, everyone around him stared as he spoke, all of them rendered speechless. “All of us were willing to get rid of you the moment you started messing things up. The only reason you’re here is because you forced yourself into being an ‘assistant’ when Mephone just wanted you out of the way—”

“Silver Spoon.”

Even with Candle grabbing his arm, Silver didn’t stop speaking.

“We don’t want you around!”

There was a long pause afterwards, with basically everyone else being stunned into silence, looking at him in utter disbelief. Floory moved back slightly, not knowing what to say, and in response, Cabby rolled her wheelchair in front of him.

“ You may not want him around, but I do.” Cabby practically scowled at Silver, hand pointing at him. Her usual intimidating aura returned in an instant. “He’s been more of an ally in our short time together than you ever were.”

Silver Spoon rolled his eyes, a smug grin on his face. “And that’s exactly why him being here is a problem. Not to mention he’s dangerous, he almost killed us all! Surely you remember that, Cabby.”

“Silver Spoon!”

Silver finally shut up when Candle raised her voice. 

“That’s enough, you cannot speak on my behalf.” She glared at him, then she stepped in front of him to talk to Cabby and Floory herself. “My apologies to the both of you. My betrayal of our former alliance was just strategy and meant nothing personal, I hope you know that. Please, do not take what he said to heart.”

With that, Candle extended her hand to Cabby, to which she reluctantly took. Cabby gave her a small smile, and it seemed like they’re taking steps in the right direction.

The Floor didn’t have the mind to care at that moment though.

In fact, his mind fazed out Cabby’s reply entirely. He was still stuck on what Silver had said. He knows he shouldn’t even entertain the idea, but everything just kept coming back to the fact that Silver was right .

Even after all the time they spent together during the competition, not a single one of them stood up for him, at least not initially. The only one who even tried to argue for him was Paintbrush, and they were gone. All of them, all of them , were perfectly fine with going above and beyond just to get rid of him. The majority of them didn’t stop until he basically threatened their lives after they threatened his. The only reason they stopped was because he was dangerous.

He thought he’d been nothing but friendly, yeah sometimes he’d scare people just by popping up next to them but he never meant to. Then he thought back to the time everyone stepped on him, or how they’d make comments about how he was terrifying before anything ever happened.

So was that it?

Did anyone ever like him?

“…Floory?”

The Floor blinked, and suddenly he was back. He looked up at Cabby and Candle, both with concerned looks on their faces. Even Silver behind them looked a little worried. Had he zoned out that badly? 

Cabby moved first.

“Are you okay?”

“I—” He was about to reply, but the words died in his throat, and his eyes started to burn. Realization hit him that if he doesn’t leave now, he might actually make the situation worse for all of them.

So instead, he moved back.

“I gotta go!”

With just a second, he transported himself to the place he felt completely safe in; the red spot. Any tears that might’ve escaped him evaporated the moment he turned into the lava he was on, quietly sizzling away. The sound only served to send him further into distress.

He was so childish sometimes.

Floory slowly breathed, calming his nerves slowly but surely. He just needed time to think things through.

Maybe he was selfish. Maybe he should’ve just listened. 

He should’ve just left, then no one would have to deal with him anymore.

The Floor squeezed his eyes shut. Nevermind that, he has to do his best to fulfill his part of the agreement. Just…do whatever Mephone wants him to do, don’t bother anyone, don’t mess things up. He only wanted to help, right? So act like it, stay out of the way. 

Should be easy enough.

Even if it would kill him to go back to feeling lonely again.

If it meant making everyone live just a little easier, if it brought them comfort, he’d sacrifice his own. For his friends, for Mephone, he’d sacrifice his own wants.

It’s fine.

He’ll get used to it eventually.

——————

Hours passed.

The Floor watched the sun move from directly above him to barely visible through the edges of the volcano, eventually, the sky started to turn dark, which told him it was probably time to leave. Still, he couldn’t help but stay a little longer, looking up at the stars scattered across the sky.

He’d always wondered what it would be like to fly to the stars.

He probably could, but it’d take far too much effort, like running non-stop for several miles, he’d guess.

Tethered to the ground, he teleported away.

The Floor popped away from the volcano to the pic-nix table. To his surprise, Mephone was already there waiting for him, some food already on the table. A small box of pizza, the usual cookies.

“Where have you been all day?” Mephone asked, and Floory teleported onto the table as usual, body changing into the blue colored wood. Floory didn’t know what to say really, he had just been in the red spot for god knows how long, so he didn’t exactly give him an answer, settling on just replying with a short and vague “Around.”

Mephone looked clearly confused about his answer, but Floory didn’t comment on it further. He didn’t want to think about it, he didn’t want to think about anything, actually. He just wasn’t feeling up to it. He wanted to just teleport away and lock any feelings away, he wanted to so badly.

However, he can’t just leave. He had no other reason to, and if he left, he’d probably worry or at least confuse Mephone even more, and that’s the last thing he wants to happen right now.

So for once, he kept his mouth shut.

Mephone shrugged his weird answer off, he grabbed a slice of pizza and instead decided to ask another question. “Not chatty today huh? Anything interesting happened?”

“Not really.” The Floor lied, keeping his expression still just enough to be convincing. “I’m just a little sleepy, that’s all.”

Mephone turned to him a little more, a pizza still in his hand. Mephone gave him a small smirk, eying at him up and down. “Wow, really not chatty today, that’s new.” and with that, placed the slice on the table for him. “In any case, you haven’t had dinner yet, have you? Not that I— Anyway, just eat up.”

Floory hummed in response, not knowing what to say. He just quietly ate.

It was quiet but peaceful, which was everything he needed.

Eventually, They were done. He and Mephone only exchanged a few words after that, with Mephone telling him about his day, or his plans for the competition, and Floory couldn’t help but crack a small smile here and there.

Still listening.

The two of them eventually finished their meal. They split up afterwards, with them both going back to their rooms respectively.

Floory teleported into his room and up to his bed. He usually switches between sleeping on the bed, on the carpet, even the grass outside. He IS the floor, after all. All he needed was just a comfortable surface. For now though, the soft, comforting feeling of the blanket was all he needed today.

Now he was alone in the dimly lit room, sunken into his bed, staring at the ceiling.

The small high that came from just spending a little bit of time with Mephone dissipates slowly, now that he was by himself again.

In spite of that, he breathed out a sigh of relief.

He was still stressed out of his mind, he was still a nervous wreck, but the most important thing was he kept it together.

He wasn’t a problem.

Perfect.

Chapter Text

[ What does it mean to be loved? ]

To be loved by someone can vary from person to person, but at its core, it’s to be held in affection. It’s to be cherished, it’s to be respected, it’s to be worth their time. But really, who knows for sure?

It can make you feel like you’re on top of the world, and in a flash, it can destroy you completely.

In the end, love is…

…

[ What does it mean to be loved? ]

…

……

“So confusing...”

Mephone grumbled to himself, staring at the mass amount of paperwork on his table. He should’ve made some kind of file to at least organize all of these, but alas, he was never great at these things, as made clear already a few days ago.

So Mephone just threw everything aside, he’d ask The Floor about it later. The guy may be a little…ditzy, but he was slightly better than him when it came to keeping their place easy to go through, he IS the floor, after all.

Speaking of, where was that guy?

Usually Floory would come to his room right around 10 in the morning, unless they agreed on somewhere else beforehand. It was now a little past afternoon, and he was nowhere to be seen.

Of course it was when Mephone needed him that he wasn't around. He sighed and stood up. He couldn’t be bothered with cleaning up, so instead he walked out of his room and went on a small search. Surely it wouldn’t take too long, The Floor was almost always seen with someone during the time between competitions when he was still competing, and it seemed that he kept that trend so far.

Well, he was wrong.

After nearly an hour of walking around from place to place and asking people if they spoke to The Floor today, he got a resounding no. He was starting to feel exhausted from walking back and forth, checking everywhere from the beach to the volcano. Finally, he approached the last remaining people, that being Nickel, Balloon, and Bot.

“Hey, you three.” He greeted simply, getting a wave from Bot and a small ‘hey’ from Nickel.

“Hi Mephone.” Balloon looked up from his…was that a drawing? “Did you need something?”

“Kind of, have you seen The Floor around?” Mephone asked, straight to the point. The three contestants looked at each other, as if realizing something. Naturally, Mephone got curious. “What?”

The three looked unsure of what to say, but Bot eventually spoke up. “He promised he’d come draw with me today when we were around the volcano after the challenge, I thought he was just late.”

“We figured he was busy helping you or something.” Nickel added, before snickering to himself. “Or maybe having lunch, that sounds like ‘em.”

“Have you checked his room?” Balloon suggested. “Maybe he slept in today.”

“It’s like, nearly 2 pm. but sure.” Nickel said sarcastically, which earned him a jab in the side by Balloon’s elbow. Mephone kind of agreed with him, but who knows? Maybe Balloon was right, there’s no harm in checking. Mephone held in a sigh. “Okay, okay. I’ll go see if he’s there. You guys have fun drawing over there.”

“Thanks!” Bot happily exclaimed. They looked up from their drawing but they still held the marker. “Good luck finding him, Mephone!”

Mephone smiled at them, turned on his heels, and walked away. He has an assistant to find.

——————

Mephone knocked on Floory’s door.

He felt kind of stupid for not thinking of checking here first but in his defense, The Floor barely ever stays in his room. Hell, sometimes he won’t even sleep in it. So he still feels like it’s not entirely his fault.

A few seconds goes by, nothing. Naturally, Mephone knocked again.

“Floory! Open the door!”

This time, he heard some subtle movement from the otherside of the door. Then—

“The door’s unlocked, just come in.”

Mephone noted that he sounded a little frazzled, but Mephone reluctantly opened the door and looked inside.

The room itself looked practically untouched, which Mephone supposed should’ve been expected since Floory doesn’t exactly have to use stuff like the desk or the drawers. Mephone looked around, and nearly jumped back when The Floor popped into existence in front of him. They stared at each other for a few seconds in total silence, and while they did, Mephone noticed some few odd details.

Floory, despite only being a being half sprouted from the ground, was usually extremely expressive, at least from what he saw during the competition. He would always sound cheery, he’d almost always be smiling as a default, and he wasn’t afraid to absolutely stare into your soul. He felt human, even if he wasn't exactly one physical appearance wise.

Today was different. The Floor was quiet, to the point of looking meek, he looked exhausted, and he was absolutely struggling to keep eye contact. No conversation starters, no questions about why Mephone was even here, the whole thing was far too quiet that it felt uncanny.

Mephone wasn’t entirely sure what to say. Despite the metaphorical alarm blaring in his head, he didn’t want to directly say he looked terrible today. So instead, he opted to ask “Were you here the entire time?”

“Uh, Yeah.” Floory mumbled, it was nearly inaudible. He glanced around the room a little bit before finally meeting his eyes. “Sorry, I guess I slept past my alarm.”

“You think?” Mephone commented. Immediately, the reaction he got was wildly different from usual. Instead of laughing or quipping back, Floory stayed quiet. It started to worry him, even if he doesn’t really want to admit it. He was never good with feelings, let alone confrontations about it, but even he knew something was wrong here. “Are you feeling sick or something? Can you even be sick?”

“No!” The Floor yelled, with a lot more sense of urgency than one would expect from such a simple question, and it looked like it surprised both Mephone and Floory himself. “I mean— No, I’m not sick. Just a little tired.”

Mephone closed the door behind him and fully let himself into the room. The Floor moved out of his way when Mephone pulled up a chair and sat down. Mephone started to feel nervous now that they were alone, but it was far too late to back out now. “So…What’d you do yesterday that you tired yourself out this badly?”

“Just, well, not much. I just talked to people, and couldn’t sleep for a while.” Floory said after he stayed quiet for a while longer.

Couldn’t sleep? But yesterday—

Mephone doesn’t entirely believe him. Before he could say anything about it though, The Floor continued. “What time is it?” 

“About 2 pm.” He replied, crossing his legs into a more comfortable position. “Bot mentioned you promised to draw with them…how you’re supposed to do that is beyond me, but I think they’re still around. I don’t really have anything for you to do today anyway, so you’re fine to go if you feel like it.”

“Oh, uh, I’ll apologize to them a bit later then.”

Mephone raised a brow at him, The Floor didn’t say anything else.

The silence was starting to get awkward, and that was also out of the ordinary.

The Floor averted his eyes.

“Okay, that’s it. What’s going on?” Mephone suddenly asked, and it looked like Floory was surprised by the sudden question, it almost stopped him in his tracks. However, with how weird The Floor was acting and how he felt a pit in his stomach, Mephone decided to keep pushing. “You've been acting so out of character since yesterday, I find it hard to believe you’re just exhausted.”

When Floory stayed quiet, Mephone grew more worried.

“What’s wrong?”

“Nothing.” He insisted, voice slightly shaking. “I don’t really want to think about it now, Please just let it go?”

Mephone looked at his assistant, and it was clear right away that The Floor was not alright. He looked nervous, his voice was unsteady, he was growing more frantic. Something about seeing someone usually so lively being in such a state was something his own robotic heart could only describe as upsetting.

So, reluctantly, Mephone let it go.

“Fine.” He sighed, and the only consolation he had was seeing The Floor looking relieved. It pissed him off. “Fine…”

“Thank you.” Floory smiled at him, small, soft, gentle. Normally he would be filled with all sorts of feelings that he wasn’t ready to touch on quite yet, but now?

It just saddened him.

The Floor didn’t seem to notice his inner plight.

“Well, I guess I should go and apologize to Bot, I’ll be back in a few minutes. Did you want to stay in my room?” The Floor asked. Mephone noted that he wasn’t going to actually go through with his promise to them, just apologize. Great, just more things to add to Mephone’s pile of ‘things to be alarmed about’.

“Do you want me to stay?” Mephone asked, surprising both Floory and himself, just to be sure Floory was comfortable. The Floor considered it for a second. “I-I don’t know. You probably have better things to do, I don’t even know why I asked—”

“Well, what if I wanted to?” Mephone nearly stammered. “What if I wanted to stay here? Would you want me to?”

“Oh…”

Mephone felt his hands getting clammy out of nervousness that he wasn’t sure where it even came from, but Floory seemed to be considering it. After what felt like an eternity to Mephone, he finally gets a response.

“If you say so then…Yeah, I’d like that, actually.” He decided quietly. “Stay here then, I’ll be back soon.”

With that simple statement, he disappeared.

Mephone let out a breath that he didn’t even realize he was holding. He put his face in his hands.

Okay, he had no idea what was going on, he knew something was severely wrong and The Floor refused to tell him anything. The only thing Mephone knew for sure was that no matter what, he wanted The Floor to go back to his bubbly self, and he can’t mess up this chance. He had made so many mistakes in the past, he can't afford to fall into the same trap he used to.

Just the thought of comforting someone alone worried Mephone. He’s never been good with his own feelings, let alone other people. He was not soft-spoken, he was not a good listener, he wasn’t selfless by any means, and he had already messed things up so many times. He was objectively one of the worst people to be trying to make someone feel better, he didn't know what he was even doing.

God, why did he have to care so much?

What are these feelings he was having?

It would be so much easier to just not care and let him be, but Mephone just can’t . He didn’t have the heart to do that. Instead, he was determined to get this right.

Before he could dwell on it for much longer, Floory teleported back in front of him, as quickly as he promised. The Floor initially avoided eye contact but eventually caved, a soft smile still present despite everything.

“If you’re staying here for a while longer, would you want to sit on the bed instead? A lot more comfortable there.”

“Oh, uh, okay!” Mephone stated, hopefully not as stiff as he felt it was. He moved to sit on the edge of the neat, nearly undisturbed bed. Floory popped up next to him without another word. Mephone didn’t know what to say, but it seemed like The Floor was content.

The silence, all things considered, was comfortable for the first time that night.

It didn’t have to last long through, as Floory finally initiated a conversation. He cleared his throat, taking a few hesitant glances at Mephone before looking away.

“You sure you’re okay with this?” He asked. “…I’m not wasting your time?”

Now Mephone nearly visibly flinched.

“What?” He can’t exactly describe how he was feeling, but it wasn’t good. “Did I give you that impression?”

“No.” The Floor quickly responded, but he took a few seconds more to somewhat elaborate. “I was just…wondering, is all.”

Mephone wasn’t stupid. People don’t just ask questions like that for no apparent reason unless they were prompted to, and coupled with everything else that went on in the last twenty minutes or so, Mephone was sure something must’ve happened, people don’t typically change up their attitude so suddenly.

Still, Mephone knew better than to confront him about it. He only just mentioned not wanting to talk about it, he had to respect it. No matter what his pride or curiosity said, he would hold his tongue for as long as it takes.

“Well, if I was busy, I wouldn’t have asked if you wanted me to stay, would I?” Mephone tried to come across as nonchalantly as possible, while also internally freaking out because he is not cut out for any of this. He smirked, burying the feeling of embarrassment deep, deep down. “You know I would’ve just left if I didn’t want to stay…right?”

“Really?”

The Floor sounded simultaneously hopeful and in disbelief. Mephone wasn’t sure how much he believed him, but for god’s sake, he wants him to. He needed him to.

“Really.” Mephone repeated confidently, racking his brain for the little words of affirmation he’s heard in his lifetime, which was not many. After finding next to nothing, Mephone did what he was hesitant to do.

Just…winging it.

“You know I do like you, right?” Mephone couldn’t help but look down at the ground, the carpet was suddenly drawing his sights. “I know I wanted you off the island, and I know I didn’t want you to be my assistant at first, but I never disliked you. Maybe annoyed, but never disliked. You were a good contestant, and I like spending time with you so far.”

‘More than you could imagine’ He didn’t say.

The Floor blinked at him and smiled sweetly. The sight captured Mephone in a slow, agonizing worldwind of his own feelings. Imagine that, such a mundane action that barely lasted a second could pause his entire world.

He had a big problem on his hands.

“Thank you, Mephone.” Floory grinned, much softer than Mephone was used to seeing on him. It made his heart race. “That means a lot, more than you could possibly imagine.”

Mephone smiled back. The tender moment lasted a few seconds in reality, but it will settle itself in his mind for what he truly believe was for a lifetime. Soon, Mephone caught them staring into each other's eyes for a tad too long, so he looked away, blushing.

“H-hey! You haven’t eaten anything today, have you?” Mephone stammered and before The Floor could answer, he quickly tapped on the screen on his arm to summon something for them both to enjoy. Of course, because he did it on such a whim and with just about zero thought, he summoned a box of chocolate, full of different kinds and shapes and sizes, just like ones you’d get for valentines, and oh my god , what a choice.

Mephone resisted the urge to bury his face in his hands and disappear from this world.

The Floor giggled.

He fucking giggled .

“Actually yeah, I haven’t. Thanks.” The Floor chimed, it was soft but he also sounded much more happy than he did when Mephone came knocking at his door. Floory even glanced up at him, and smirked. “I do really like chocolate too...”

Does he know, is he doing this on purpose?

Mephone couldn’t tell.

So confusing.

Mephone supposed he shouldn’t complain…

He’s pretty happy about the outcome regardless.

Chapter Text

[ Do you think you’re capable of love? ]

He…He wasn’t sure, in all honesty.

But…

…

[ Do you think you’re capable of love? ]

…

……

“I hope so.”

The Floor blinked the drowsiness away, to little success. He could barely make out who was speaking, and he had to rise up from the bed and squint just to see the figure in his room, standing right on the carpet.

“Mephone…?” His voice was raspy and dry, he had just woken up, after all. “…Who are you talking to…?”

Said man turned to him quickly. “Ah, sorry, one sec.” From where Floory was, he could see Mephone pressing a button on his screen. Before Mephone could do much more though, another voice, a familiar one, rang from his body.

“Oh my gosh, was that The Floor!?”

“…OJ?”

A beat of silence later.

“…Oh you guys move fast.”

“What!? That’s not— Ugh! Shut it, OJ!”

Floory squinted at the way Mephone panicked and turned away from him, mostly because it didn’t do much of anything, it just made him less visible, he could still hear everything as Mephone sputtered. “I gotta hang up, can I call later?”

“Sure sure, whatever you need man…as long as I’m not busy.”

“Missed you OJ!” Floory yelled after him, as much as he could with his morning voice anyway. It seems like it was enough, as OJ responded to him with a cheerful “Missed you too Floory!” right before Mephone hung up on him.

Well, that was a weird thing to wake up to.

“I didn’t realize you stayed the night. Hope I didn’t take up too much space on the bed.” The Floor then yawned, his eyes getting watery, which didn’t react to the sunlight pouring from the window very well. While he was blinking rapidly to hopefully chase away the sleepiness, Mephone sighed. “You’re tiny. Well, at least right now. You barely took up any space at all.”

The Floor huffed, finally feeling fully awake. He teleported down from the bed and onto the fluffy carpet next to it. “What time is it?”

“Let me check, uh…8 am.”

“…Why were you on the phone with OJ at 8 in the morning?”

Floory thought it was a fairly reasonable question to ask, but the way Mephone stared at him and trailed off with a ‘uhhh…’ raised his eyebrow, just a little bit.

“Uh…Just some advice.”

“Advice about…?”

“It— It doesn’t matter!” Mephone cleared his throat and completely changed the subject. “Do you want breakfast? What do you want?”

The Floor reeled from the sudden question, he literally just woke up and now he has to think of what to eat for breakfast? Well, he does love food, so he’s not mad about it. “An omelet sounds nice.”

Without asking anything else, Mephone quickly tapped on his screen and summoned a plate of classic omelet on the desk. The Floor teleported up to it, except something caught his eyes right away. On the omelet was a cute, if not slightly messy heart-shaped drawing out of ketchup. One you’d usually see in cooking games or bad romance movies. It was so cheesy, it was so cringey, but curse his entire being—

Immediately, Floory felt his face heats up.

He looked up at Mephone, undoubtedly flustered. Mephone was in a similar state, however, as he yelped at his own creation. It almost made Floory laugh. Even so, after just a few seconds, despite what he wanted to believe, The Floor couldn’t help but overthink.

Surely it was just a coincidence.

There was no way it was anything near what he wanted it to be, he shouldn’t get his hopes up like that, unless he wants to regret it later.

So like always, he pretended he didn’t feel anything. Instead, he played dumb and grinned at Mephone. “Awe, very cute. Thanks Mephone.” He wasn’t lying, not at all, but he was definitely covering his actual reaction up by being so confident about it.

Confidence is key, after all, even if it was a tiny bit faux sometimes.

“Uh, you’re welcome! That was completely intentional!”

Mephone snapped a finger at him, and it was a little awkward, and a little funny to be entirely honest. Still, The Floor clicked his tongue in response. It was a hot second of Mephone looking like he doesn’t know what to do next until anything else happen.

“…A-Anyway!” Mephone turned away. “There’s a few things we have to do today. We have to survey the contestants for anything they need restocked in their rooms, like extra TP, soap, shampoo, that sort of stuff. So I guess we’ll just go ask, and make a list.”

The other contestants?

He felt his breath involuntarily hitched at the thought alone, his anxiety crashed back into him full force. It took him so long to mentally prepare himself just to talk to Bot for a few seconds yesterday, and that was more like him profusely apologizing and leaving before he could hear them reply. Now? Now he’d probably have to have full conversations with everyone .

He wasn’t sure he could do it without thinking about what Silver told him.

Suddenly he wasn’t feeling very hungry anymore. 

Even still, he can’t back out, he had a promise he had to keep. The Floor stayed here in exchange for being Mephone’s assistant, and Mephone didn’t even want that initially, he had to at least do it right.

It can’t be that bad, it can’t be that bad.

He was freaking out over nothing.

He was making a big deal out of nothing .

Luckily, Mephone didn’t question his silence, at least not aloud. Instead, Mephone raised a brow at him and sat down on the chair, sliding the plate of food slightly towards him. “I can do it myself if you don’t want to. You can’t really write, so we can’t exactly split up and get it done faster anyway.” Mephone offered, as if he had an inkling of an idea of what The Floor was thinking. He was grateful for that, really.

However, if there was something that became abundantly clear about Floory in the past few days, it was that he was stubborn. 

“No! No, It’s okay.” He insisted, trying his best to seem unaffected as he possibly could. “What kind of assistant would I be if I let you do it alone? A useless one, that’s what I’d be!”

The Floor held his breath as Mephone shot him a confused glance, but he eventually relented, knowing no matter how hard he pushed, The Floor wasn’t going to give up. Mephone gave a hesitant nod, and Floory felt conflicted. He knew this wasn’t the best idea, but he was determined.

He was overreacting.

He’d be fine.

——————

The first few people they found went okay. 

The Floor tried his best to be energetic, but he admittedly struggled to just stay focused. He let Mephone do most of the talking, with him adding things sparsely or reminding Mephone to add certain things to the list after they were done talking to someone.

So far they’ve asked Bot and Candle, both of whom needed extra papers, Nickel, who said he didn’t need anything, and YinYang, who argued for a solid minute about if they needed more soap or not. Mephone decided to list it, just in case.

Then, they were onto Silver Spoon.

Silver was by himself today, which Floory couldn’t decide if that made it better or worse. He didn’t even know what to do, part of him still felt bitter about what Silver said to him, but another, possibly more rational part of him just wanted to bite his tongue and stay mellow. Silver wasn’t exactly wrong, after all. If it meant things will be easier for them, who was he to get in the way of that?

When The Floor and Mephone approached the contestant, Floory couldn’t help but take note of Silver’s glance towards him. The Floor smiled back, like second nature. He pushed down the pang of anxiety he suddenly felt when he saw the corner of Silver’s mouth curled up into a small smirk. Silver Spoon looked back at Mephone.

“Greetings, Mephone, The Floor. What could I do for you today?”

‘Nothing.’ He was tempted to say. ‘Just like how you think of me.’

“We’re doing the weekly restock of your rooms. Is there anything you need?” Mephone asked, just like he asked anybody else. Silver took a little bit to think, humming as he does, a short, particular tune he heard often. It felt like it should’ve been sweet, slow, but it sounded all wrong now.

It reminded him of Paintbrush.

How they’d idly hum out a tune whenever they’re engrossed in something. The Floor remembers how eventually, OJ started picking up on it, then occasionally Candle would as well.

It reminded him of the Thinkers.

…

What went wrong?

He was so happy with them.

Now they are all gone.

Even surrounded by eight other people, he still felt so lonely.

“I miss them.”

“What?”

Silver’s confused response shook him awake from the rabbit hole his mind was going through. The Floor struggled to compute what just happened for a second, until he saw Mephone look at him with the same confusion. It was only then that he realized he spoke aloud.

He knew he should just shut up, that he didn’t need to elaborate, but he felt hollow . This growing loneliness had a grip on him like a vice until all it was, was numbness. Like a piece of him had vanished, and that feeling, or rather lack thereof, was ironically so overwhelming. He couldn’t even think.

No one wanted him around, so why should they care what he thought? Why should he care? What was he doing?

What does he have to lose?

“I miss the Thinkers.” Floory almost didn’t recognize his own words by how utterly still his tone was, he didn’t have the mind to care. “I miss the way Paintbrush laughed at our shenanigans when they weren’t being angry about it, I miss the way OJ face-palmed every time someone immediately went against what he said. I miss it.” 

Mephone’s worried glace shifted from The Floor to Silver Spoon, who didn’t say anything for just a few moments. Silver then crossed his arms, turning slightly away. “That team was far in the past. You should learn to move on, my dear. Clinging to this silly idea that we were anything but a group of people forced to work together is not a good look.”

Something in him snapped.

“Paintbrush didn’t move on.”

Floory was surprised by his own interjection, but he kept on going. He felt like he should revel in the way Silver Spoon flinched, but he felt nothing. The Floor tilted his head.

“They considered us family, you ripped that away from them. They were forced to move on.”

“I-I didn’t—!”

“Don’t you miss them, Silver?” The Floor finally found it in himself to look at Silver Spoon dead in the eyes, after all this time of trying to avoid it. “Paintbrush considered you a friend. Was that all just a ploy to move further in the game to you?”

When Silver didn’t respond quickly enough, Floory took the chance to continue.

“Same with OJ. You even bragged about getting him out. Don’t you miss him too? Don’t you remember how we held hands and declared Thinkers forever?” Silver’s shadow was no longer looming over him when he took a step back, then another. “Did the team ever matter to you, Silver Spoon? I wouldn’t be surprised if it didn’t, you only ever cared about yourself. How long until you do the same to Candle?”

The Floor moved forward, Silver stepped back.

“I wonder how far you would go to win, Silver. You were willing to get me killed just a few days ago. What’s next? Who’s next?”

The silence that followed after was difficult. He was barely keeping his emotions intact, and from the corner of his eyes he saw Mephone looking absolutely stunned by the conversation. Even so, The Floor kept eye contact, refusing to waver.

Silver Spoon didn’t seem like he had anything else to say.

The Floor didn’t care.

“So,” The Floor started. “What do you need restocked?”

Silver Spoon stayed silent.

“I’m taking that as nothing.” Floory stated simply. “Have a good rest of your day, Silver.”

With that, The Floor moved away from the scene. He wanted to just teleport away, but Mephone needed to know where he was going. It wasn’t difficult for Mephone and catch up and together, they walked side by side in silence, at least to start with.

“What was that all about?” Mephone asked, and even though he knew he was worried, The Floor didn’t know what he did, or why he did it either. Eventually, he settled on an answer. 

“Me being selfish for once, I guess.”

They walked a bit, then Mephone slowed down until both of them stopped. The Floor silently raised a brow when Mephone looked off to the side. Floory could guess what he was thinking, and Mephone eventually looked back at him.

“Are you sure you’re okay? You can go back early.” Mephone asked, and Floory knew he had nothing but good intent, and any other day he would’ve been so moved. Today was different, he couldn’t accept the offer, he wasn’t willing to accept that good intentions. “No, we’re almost done anyway. Why stop now?”

“Okay, wait.” Mephone physically reeled back, putting both his hands in front of him as if trying to slow things down. “Floory, what the hell is going on? I didn’t want to bother you but it’s been days and something obviously happened, something you’re not telling me!”

The Floor pursed his lips. “That’s not in the job description.”

“Does it have to be!?” 

“Yes! I’m only here as an assistant, aren’t I!?”

“W-What?” The host in question stuttered, hands subconsciously went to comb through his hair. “I thought— Ugh! I thought you understood that you’re not just an assistant! Why is that so hard for you to grasp!?”

“Did you really have to ask!?” The Floor felt his heart beat in his chest, his breath was running out. He was saying more than he should, he needed to stop. Now. And yet, he couldn’t. “The only reason I wasn’t kicked out was because I was too hard to get rid of! I— YinYang almost killed me, Mephone. Everyone wanted me gone. Stop pretending!”

“I’m not!” Mephone almost sounded desperate, a hand tightly grasping his tie. “I could’ve always revived you! It’s not like you’ve never died here!”

“It’s not about that!” This wasn’t right, his head was spinning. He didn’t know what to do. “The punching was painful, the stepping was painful, but none of it compared to knowing how no one would hesitate to do whatever it takes to get rid of me. That’s what hurts.”

Floory stared up at Mephone, trying to silence his gasps for air. Why was it so hard to breathe? 

“Silver was right.” 

He could barely talk anymore. 

“What am I doing?”

Before he could hear what Mephone was going to say, he teleported away.

——————

The Floor had been in the volcano for what felt like hours.

He couldn’t tell how much time actually went by, but the sun is only starting to set, so it must not be as long as he felt. He could feel the lava around him bubbling as he sunk his face into the surface, and it helped calm his nerves a little bit.

From a distance, Floory heard the familiar yet quiet tap of something from just above him, one he grew to pick up quickly. It wasn’t hard to guess who it was. 

“Cabby?”

“Ah, The Floor.” Her sweet voice was followed by her head peering over the edge, barely visible. Cabby was alone, so she probably used her walking cane to aid herself up the mountain, as her wheelchair would’ve been too hard to roll up without anyone pushing her. Immediately, he felt a pang of guilt.

Did she come all the way up here to find him? It’s the only reason why she’d be here that he could think of. His question was answered when she spoke again.

“Would you mind coming up here? It’s a little…scary. Looking down.” She laughed, and despite the tension in the air, The Floor decided to comply. He teleported up and as he suspected, Cabby had used her walking stick to get up. Cabby didn’t seem bothered at all, as she only gave him a small smile, one he wasn’t used to seeing on her quite yet, but certainly a welcomed change. “Ah, much better.”

“How did you know I was here?” 

Cabby sat down on top of the volcano, placing her walking stick down, patting the space next to her. The Floor teleported there wordlessly, looking for answers. 

“I have it noted down that you go to ‘the red spot’ often.” She then patted the messenger bag full of files she always had on her. “I’ll admit, it was a risk coming up here alone, but I knew you probably would rather avoid everyone else being here too. At least, for now.”

“I know you’re capable, but you gotta realize how dangerous this is, right?” The Floor scolded, but Cabby simply shrugged. “Now I get to rest my legs for a while, don’t I? I’ve been up here before.”

Seeing that she wasn’t going to budge, he sighed and turned his head away. “So Mephone told you, huh.”

Cabby nodded, her smile no longer present and instead replaced by a frown. “It was Balloon and myself, to be precise. We saw him standing alone, and it looked like something had happened. Then, he told us everything.” She paused. “Don’t blame him, he was most likely…distressed.”

Before he could say anything, Cabby held a finger up to his face. “Before you even start saying it’s your fault, it’s not. You haven’t exactly had an easy time these past couple of days.”

Floory wanted to argue, but he was exhausted. He let his shoulder sag and sunk a little bit further into the rocky surface. Cabby must’ve caught on, because she sighed and looked towards the warm sun slowly disappearing behind the vast ocean. She fidgeted with her hands.

“I’m…sorry.”

“What?” The Floor turned to look at her, startled by the unexpected apology. “What are you apologizing to me for?”

One of Cabby’s hands then moved to twirl the strands of hair between her fingers nervously. She waited a moment before continuing. “I have a lot of people to apologize to. You just happened to be one of those people…that’s still here. So…I’m sorry. For everything.”

“I’m not mad at you.” The Floor mumbled. “It’s not like you hurt me.” 

“This isn’t about people hurting you, at least not physically.” Cabby insisted. Even without her files, she has an affinity for analysis of people, and she seems to be good at it too. “The reason you’re upset is because you want to feel, well, wanted, don’t you? That’s what I’ve gathered from our last encounter, anyway.”

If Floory sunk down further, he’d be submerged by the ground. “I didn’t signed up to be psychoanalyzed, you know.”

Despite keeping his tone rather neutral, Cabby must’ve noticed his reaction, no matter how small he thought it was. She let out a nearly silent breath, and took her time with her next few words. “Our experiences aren’t going to be completely alike, of course. But— I think I understand you, just a little bit.”

“People were scared of me.” Cabby continued the one sided conversation, but The Floor was listening intently. “I want to have friends, but I did and said some awful things, I alienated a lot of people. I didn’t want to admit anything, not my problems, not my actions, not the fact that I…I’m not perfect. You were the first person I mentioned my poor memory to in this competition.”

The Floor’s eyes widened, he knew Cabby had shared a big personal secret to him but he didn’t realize he was the first. “Really?”

Cabby nodded. “I suppose I saw it as a weakness. If people knew, they could’ve exploited it. I did everything I could to hide it. But then I talked to you, and you know what I realized?”

Cabby turned to face him.

“Keeping whatever is bothering you to yourself is the easy way out.”

The Floor averted his eyes, keeping his face down. Cabby followed his movement by moving her head down to get a clearer look at his face, as if trying to read him or at least get her point across. Floory wanted to avoid it, even if he knew she had a point.

“Sure, it works. But when the sky falls, it’s going to hurt much more than if you confide in someone. When I talked to you, I felt relieved. I wish I had done it sooner.” Cabby sounded melancholic, as if her mind was starting to wander elsewhere. She met his eyes and gave him a smile. “I’m lucky I still have Yinyang and you, you know?”

The Floor huffed. He didn’t want to admit it, but Cabby was right. Objectively speaking, not communicating only leads to problems when it comes to anything really. Still, he thought of what could happen and he just couldn’t . 

“You don’t need to say anything now if you’re not comfortable, but eventually, I hope you’ll trust someone with it.”

Right.

Floory bit back a defeated sigh.

“I do trust you guys.” Floory mumbled. “I just…I don’t think anyone else should have to worry about me on top of everything else when I’m doing fine. It’s not like it was…personal. Why pull everyone down with me.”

“We were in a competition to win money, isn’t that selfish by nature?” Cabby insisted, raising one of her brow. “There’s nothing wrong with being selfish once in a while.”

That was it. Something he needed to hear.

With those words, something clicked. Something told him that despite the rational part of him saying otherwise, his heart wanted to believe her.

He relented.

He spilled everything . 

The Floor told Cabby about what happened after their talk with Silver and Candle, how he couldn't bear to face everyone knowing they didn’t want him around, how he still wanted to try his best as an assistant for Mephone. He told her about what he said to Silver earlier today, how much he missed the Thinkers, how he teleported away from Mephone after an argument.

And Cabby listened.

Finally, he wasn’t the one listening, he wasn’t the one catering to others.

It felt good.

And though he knew for a fact Cabby keep files on everyone and everything, Floory felt safe.

“I don’t know why it bothers me so much. I don’t usually hold a grudge.” The Floor shifted his eyes. “But no matter how hard I try to be the same ol’ me, I still feel this bitterness, and I hate it.”

Cabby’s fingers tapped her cheek in a thoughtful manner as she replied. “It should be acknowledged that no one can stay positive in every moment of their life. There will be things you can never let go, and that’s alright, as long as you deal with it wisely.”

She looked to the darkening sky, Floory followed her motion. The stars were starting to become visible against the dark colors of the sky, like splatters of glitter.

“I don’t even know where to start.”

“You already did.”

The Floor turned to look at Cabby, she turned to look at him.

“You’re talking to me right now, aren’t you? That’s a step.”

The Floor stared at her for a second, and he didn’t know if it was relief washing over him or the weight being lifted just a little more, but Floory allowed himself to laugh, despite everything, just a little.

“I guess so.” Floory smiled, and Cabby smiled in turn. She looked towards the sky once more and grabbed her cane.

“As lovely as the view is, I believe it would be most wise if we head down. I don’t want to trip and fall just yet, I can barely walk as it is.”

“Well, if I see you wobble, I’ll teleport in front to break the fall!”

“I highly doubt that’d be very effective but thought appreciated.”

Floory let himself have another small giggle as Cabby stood up, her walking aid in hand.

“Cabby?”

“Yes?”

“Thanks for being here for me.”

Cabby’s eyes widened, before she closed them with a smile on her face, one he’s beginning to get used to.

“And I, you.”