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The first thing he noticed was the absence of the blinding light in white space.
It was dark. Very dark. He shut his eyes, hoping when he reopened them the comforting view of white space appeared. He opened his eyes. Nothing.
He glanced at his pale arms– pale. Not white. He wasn't Omori.
He breathed, trying to make sense of the situation-
Tap, tap
Sunny whipped his head around, trying to search into the darkness surrounding him.
Nothing.
Sunny could feel his heart beating, his breathing irregular. He wrapped his arms around his legs, bringing them to chest. He shut his eyes again, trembling. He wanted to go back to the fun adventures that they had in head space. Not whatever this is.
Sunny felt like crying.
How pathetic. Separated from Omori and he's already breaking down? What a crybaby.
Tap, tap
He refused to open his eyes as he didn't want to see what was making that noise. Sunny trembled, his breathing uneasy, as he tried to calm himself.
He's defeated countless enemies, but he still shakes in the dark. Pathetic.
Without Omori to protect him from his emotions, for the first time in a long time, Sunny felt AFRAID.
Drip, drip
He flinched, curling himself into a tighter ball.
Scared in his own dream? I thought the little dreamer would be braver.
…what? "I"?
Oh boo hoo. I've found out.
He slowly opened his eyes, scanning the pitch-black area for any signs of movement.
You're going to have to try a bit harder than that dreamer.
Drip, drip
Sunny recoiled at that horrid dripping sound, clamping his hands over his ears.
Aww, poor you. Are your ears hurting? I wonder how h̨̳͙̪̝̝̖̲̓͒̒o͕̩̤̻̦͍̚͠ẉ̛̬̓ͩͮ ̯̹͉̲̇ͪ͢s͈͔͑ͦ̋̑͜ẖ̴͙̟͉̑e̷̦̻̼̟̠ͧ̔ͅ ̛̩͉̤̲͈̬͓͉̇f͚̭̙̣ͬͣ͟e̤͕͉͉̣̮͔̫ͤ͝ļ͓̦͇̓̈ͅtͨͪ̆̚͏̥͓ ͉̩͉̘̤̏̄͟w͔͔ͨ͠h̯̣͙̰ͪ̾̆ͩ͘e̴̪̜̣̼̘̱͕̠̎ͣn̘̫̻̗͂͂͗͘-
He took a deep breath, focusing on his breathing instead of those terrible thoughts. He blocked out the thoughts and eventually stopped trembling.
It was okay.
He couldn't get hurt in his dreams after all. Ignore it and everything will be fine.
H̗̺͉̲̺̟͂͐̀E̝͍͋̄ͥͦ͞Y̷̭̭̣̲̮̯̠ͭͅ!͛͛͑҉̣̫͇͉ Ḏ̻̞̓̿͒̎͢o̦̙̘̤̭͋̌ͫ͠ͅn̡̦͎ͣ̃ͮ̑ͨ̋҉̺̖͍͇͉̭̹̹'̧̼͉̺͐̈̚t̶̻͙̞͉̤͕̠̐̋ ̶̤͍͍͂i̷̦̟͖̹̻̇͌g̮̣̜͚̠̲̎͌̚͢n̡̖̺̟̞͔̭̿ͅǫ͙̙̜̻͙̠͌̈́r̸̬̫̳̙̮̲̝ͯē̓ͩ͏͓͍̦̭̰̦ ̳͈̥͉̦̣͎ͨ͛ͯ̓͞ͅm̵̬͖̟̪̄ȅͤ̄͐҉̣̘̘!̶̤̫͚̩͕̒ͅ
Just…Wait until Omori finds him.
And deal with the darkness.
He shivered at the thought of staying here longer, and he nearly shrieked when he saw an eye pop out of nowhere, but it disappeared when he reopened his eyes. It…was just his mind playing tricks on him again! He really should be used to this…!
Ỉ̷̧̘̥̰͈̣̙̻͖̟̪̌̚'̻̬͙̻̥̝̲̐́m̧͇̦̈̒̈́ͣ ̋͏̺̹͖̜̮̜s̨̰̻͈̬͗ͫt̛̫͖͗i̬̥͔̬̠̅̊́l̨̞͈̳͈̭̗̤ͪͯͤ̑l̴̝̻͍̩͑͆ ̵̹͚̞̮͓͓͚ͪh̯̲̠̻̪͚ͨͨ̏̇͞e̤̱̙͚͔ͨ͞r̵̖̞̎̃͌̊ẹ̯̺̞̖̟̪͗̽̅͢!̵͍̬͓̖̼̳̚
Just the dark…he could deal with that.
Just focus on his breathing. It's not as scary as he thinks. Breathe in. Breathe out. Breathe in. Breathe out.
S̴̟̦͇̙̩̖̲̈́͗̓u̡̺̤ͬn̢̬͔͍͓̓̾͊n̢͚̼̟͎͍̙͛y͍̗̝͔͖̫͕̤̆̍͜.̀ͬ̎̐҉̰̤̺͍̭͎͕
He jumped, feeling a cold…hand? Limb? Touch his shoulder.
S̋̂̍͒҉̜̠͖̜̫̠̮͕t͙͍̯̻̤̮͖͋͞ǒ̥̘̟ͬ̀p͇͉̻̩̝̺̖̈́̾͊͑͘ ̧̼̰͚̓i̛͉͔̦̪ͦ̈̓ḡ̣̻̺̘̜̻͕̓̔̚͠ņ͙̠͈̮̪͕ͤȍ̵̖̖̘̗͈̝̦̮̇ͪ̃ring me.
He turned to look at the culprit behind the touch. He squinted, trying his best to differentiate between the darkness of the area around him and the figure holding his shoulder.
"Basil?"
Okay, maybe that was the wrong thing to say. This wasn't Basil, it was…Stranger he believes.
Thank God you remembered one thing.
Stranger didn't have facial features (at least ones Sunny could see), but if he did, he'd probably be annoyed.
Alas, Stranger, not Basil, because Basil isn't a shadow, and Basil has green hair and a flower crown, plus a–
Stranger gripped his shoulder.
Basil's not the one here, I am. Stop thinking about him.
Oh yeah. He could read Sunny's thoughts. At least he doesn't have to talk..? Anyway…where is he?
My…home I guess. Black space.
Why is he here? And why is he…him?
You're taking this very well for someone who is afraid of his own shadow.
Am not! Just answer the question!
Well, number 1, I brought you here. Specifically you. Not the monochrome bastard.
Please don't talk about Omori like that. Also, why is he here? What do you want?
…I missed you.
I barely know you.
…….Sunny.
What?
I wish you remembered… then I probably wouldn't have to do this…or exist.
Remember what?
About the a̛̪̩̥̙̯̾̿ͅč͖̦̮͓͜c͉̝̬̤͕̺̦̯̊̉̀i͍̟̫͉͛͘d̛͙̩̙͒ͩ͐e͙̹̜̼̦͚̊͟ņ͚̮̥ͪ̂t̴͉̫̪̥̙ͯͮ͂̅.̬͇͈̹͔̰ͣ̎ͭ͜ ̩̹̳̺̈͠A̸̻̻͍͖̙̙̭̰̎ͫ̎b̴̠̣͈͆ͬͯ̇o̍̈ͯ҉͔̞u̔͌ͣ̔͏͓̤̮̙̗̝̗̱t̴͖̭̩̆̏̓ ̸̮͎̻̝͔̿M͑ͧ̎҉̯̥̩a̶̗̪̥̝̺̥̓̒r͍̙͈̫̩̝̦̳̈́̐̾͠ȋ̗̺͉̘̹͕ͧ͝ͅ.̲͓͙̜̻͒͆ͦ͘
…what? All Sunny heard was static.
N̈҉̞͔õ̮̜͕ͫ͂͜t̵͔̠̮̰̰̱̘̎ ̸̞̜̯̜ͫ̆t̝̦̟̬̘̯͊̕ͅh͉̠̼̥̝̟̓̉̍͜i͇̣̤̟ͩ̑͜s̛̪̱̊ͩ̓̒ ̞̞̫͎͕̣̉ͦ́a̤̯ͥ̎̃͂̕g͙̣͕͈̥ͯ̑́ͅȁ̼̣̮̆͌̌́i̡̭̣̹͓̟͎̽͋nͧ̿͗ͦ͏͍̥.̑̈҉̬͙̮͉
What's happening? Sunny stared at Stranger, confused.
"Stranger?"
Stranger perked up at that.
"What's happening?" He asked.
Stranger sighed, "Well, at first, you were blocking me out, but now I think Omori has some say in what's happening right now."
"Oh…well what were you going to say anyway?"
There was a pause before he spoke,
"Sunny, the acc̛̼͙̰͕͒̊ͤ̇i̩̙̇ͧ͡d̸̩̫̞̺̤́̑̓ͪͅe͐́͋͏͍̤͎̩̺͙̗̰n̷̻̳͕͉͊́t̙̱ͯ͒́̽͞ͅ,"
Stranger groaned, "Now it's happening when I speak about it too…"
Sunny was confused but decided to not push it.
"Am I going to go back to White Space soon?"
"NO!" Stranger yelled, tightly holding Sunny to the point it hurt, Sunny flinched.
Stranger noticed, loosened his grip, and continued in a softer voice, "No. Not yet. They already had you for so long, a couple…hours with you isn't anything."
"When am I though?"
He shrugged, "When that monochrome boy finds us."
Sunny frowned, "He has a name you know."
Silence ensued after that sentence until Stranger did something…weird.
He…kinda wrapped himself around Sunny. Well, Sunny was sitting in Stranger's lap (Stranger was much larger than him), while he was giving Sunny a hug.
"You're warm," Stranger murmured.
"Really?" He questioned, "I don't think anyone in my dreams are."
Stranger hummed back in response.
They stayed like this before Sunny asked a question.
"Were you making that dripping sound?"
"...yes."
"Why did you stop?"
"You didn't like it." Stranger said.
Sunny was puzzled, he got the impression that Stranger kinda hated him.
"You're currently in my lap while I'm hugging you."
Fair, fair. But why stop?
Stranger sighed, "Sunny, I hope you realize that most– if not all –of the… "people" in headspace, blackspace, and everywhere dimensions you created is in some form of love with you, and would do anything to make you happy."
Me? How about Omori?
"Well, no one really knows about how he's your… guardian. They don't even know what you look like, they'd just know you're dreamer."
Would you do anything for me?
Without hesitation, Stranger said, "Of course. I wouldn't be here without you,"
…Does that mean you…love me?
Stranger hugged him tighter, and whispered, "Yes. Yes, I do. I don't ever want to let go of you,"
Ah. Sunny could feel his cheeks burning up. Maybe… it's because… Stranger is similar to Basi-
"Don't compare me to him." Stranger hissed out
Okay, never mind.
After that there was silence since neither Stranger nor Sunny really wanted to talk, they just sat there, with Stranger occasionally nuzzling into Sunny.
Sunny felt his eyes drooping. Could he even sleep inside a dream? Stranger seemed to sense this, as he said, "You can sleep now, I'll be here if anything happens. I'll protect you."
Listening to him, Sunny let his mind slip once again and fell asleep.
____________________________
A soft smile was put on Stranger's face as Sunny fell asleep. He looked so soft. So cute. So vulnerable. It wasn't fair that Omori was hiding him from everyone.
Speaking about that bastard… it's been unusually long. He should've shown up by now. Stranger didn't try to hide that well… weird. Well, at least he gets more time with Sunny!
…nevermind, Omori's here. He could see the monochrome boy from a mile away.
"Give him back," Omori said, emotionless as ever.
Stranger stood up, gently placing Sunny a few steps behind him. "Why should I? You've had him for long enough,"
"He doesn't want to be with you."
"...and yet did you feel any panicking from him? Or disgust? Anger? Fear?"
"Ye-" Omori said before getting interrupted.
"When he knew that I was with him. Not when he was alone in the dark."
"..." That seemed to tick Omori off.
"I want him back," Omori was trembling, it seemed that Stranger underestimated how much Sunny meant to Omori, "...please."
Stranger's eyes narrowed, "Keeping him in a state of constant denial isn't helping him. He'll be happier after he heals."
"But- but he wanted me to make him forget! The truth was hurting him!" Omori protested.
"And it's going to hurt more if he doesn't face what happened." Stranger hissed.
Omori's eyes watered, and he pulled out his knife.
Most of his interactions with Omori he tried to avoid conflict, but this time he had Sunny by his side. And he didn't want to let go.
Black space warped to his will, as Omori attempted to summon red hands. Nothing happened, and Omori began to panic. Stranger's control of Black space grew as time passed by, and Omori no longer had the control that he used to. This was Stranger's domain now.
Stranger began to summon all of Sunny's worst fears, hoping Omori was affected by them. He was correct, as Omori's usually neutral face turned into uneasiness.
Stranger made the illusions crowd around Omori, hoping for them to shove him out of Black space.
After a few moments, the illusions slowly pop out of existence, revealing that Omori was nowhere to be seen. Stranger couldn't feel his presence anywhere, so he was gone.
Huh. That was easy.
Stranger glanced at the sleeping Sunny a few paces behind him and scooped him back in his arms.
Omori will definitely come back soon, but for now, he'll enjoy the time together.
Stranger gently kissed Sunny on his forehead, content with finally being able to stay with his love.