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A man named Stanley blinked at his blank computer. Exhaustion tugged at all of his bones and he proceeded to lay his head on his desk.
Over the intercom, the Narrator sighed. "Stanley decided that it was time to investigate and left his office."
Stanley shook his head.
"The story can't commence if you don't leave your office. You don't want to do the Coward Ending again, do you?"
Stanley didn't want to do any Endings. Unless there was a secret Sleep Ending, one where he got to take a nap for the first time since 2013. An Ending with a nice bed, and--
A bed! There was one in the Apartment Ending! Tripping on his chair in his hurry, Stanley stumbled out of his office.
"Finally! You know, I was worried that you weren't ever going to leave, and where would the story be then?" the Narrator said, before returning to the script. "All of his coworkers were gone. What could it mean?"
Stanley grabbed the Bucket and, hesitating for just a moment, also pressed the button that spawned the Narrator's player model. The Narrator had introduced it along with the Bucket, saying that players would love seeing the Narrator's face and that, for Stanley Parable 2, of course they needed two characters! It was all thematically necessary, Stanley, and totally not just the Narrator wanting to be able to physically steer Stanley toward the Freedom Ending over and over.
Like clockwork, the Narrator walked out of Office 430. "Although he had the Reassurance Bucket, Stanley still felt unnerved by the lack of coworkers and decided to ask the Narrator to keep him company on his journey."
Stanley headed towards the room with two doors, and beelined to the right, dodging any attempts the Narrator made to drag him to the left. The employee lounge couches looked very tempting, but Stanley was on a mission. He headed to the warehouse, once again dodging the Narrator's attempts to get him back on track, and easily got on the lift.
Once he got to the Apartment, Stanley dropped the Bucket, kicked off his shoes, and rushed to the bed calling his name.
"Stanley decided to reject the Bucket's hypnotic presence. He picked his Narrator over--! Stanley, what are you doing?!" The Narrator trailed after Stanley into the bedroom, squinting at Stanley as he nested into his bed, nuzzling his pillow. "Are you...sleeping? No, no, no! You're not supposed to go to sleep! You're not supposed to even feel tired! Human sleep is such a waste of time, do you know how many times you could beat the game in the hours that you spend confined to your bedroom?"
Stanley ignored the Narrator, preferring to relax into the comfort of his bed. Sleep Ending for the win.
"This is worse than the Broom Closet Ending. At least then you were on the path to the Freedom Ending. Alright, Stanley, if that's how you're going to be, I'm going to reset--"
Wide awake, Stanley shot up, shaking his head furiously. Couldn't the Narrator see how much Stanley needed to sleep? Besides, the Narrator was a hypocrite, talking about wasting time. Every time Stanley did the Zending, the Narrator wanted to stay there forever, so couldn't Stanley waste a few hours sleeping?
The Zending--
Stanley had an idea.
He got out of bed, grabbed his pillow and a few blankets, mournfully said goodbye to his mattress, and left his bedroom. The Narrator sputtered as Stanley shoved the pillow into the Bucket, looped the Bucket onto his arm, and gestured to the door.
"Stanley, you can't go back, you know this! Once you go down one Ending's path, you have to see it through until it resets!"
Well, Stanley was doing the Sleep Ending, and it needed him to get back into the warehouse. Besides, plenty of the other Endings had Stanley doubling back through the office. He rattled the doorknob a few times, looking at the Narrator expectantly.
Finally, the Narrator sighed. "Fine, but just this one time. Hopefully you're going back to the Freedom Ending. That's it--Stanley knew that the Narrator's bedspread was more comfortable than anything he owned in the real world, so he was bringing the bedspread home with him." The Narrator opened the door for Stanley, and the warehouse greeted them on the other side.
Stanley smiled in thanks, heading back onto the lift. For a moment, Stanley wondered if the blankets would actually cushion his fall if he jumped, but he was too tired to investigate that thought.
"Stanley headed back to his office with newfound purpose. He was going to bring his blankets back to the real world and prove the Narrator's superiority in picking--"
When Stanley jumped off onto the catwalk, the Narrator groaned but followed by teleporting beside him. "You know, you're rather rude, Stanley. I'm doing you a favor, catering to your whims this run, and what do you do? You lead us away from the story. Realizing that he was disobedient and rude, Stanley followed the Narrator's instructions and entered the red door."
Stanley smiled and opened the red door. He watched the Narrator's face as several emotions flicked past--realization, hope, dread. The Narrator had finally realized where they were going.
"Wait, no--Stanley, you know it's cruel to do the Zending when I'm your player two, right?" The Narrator was standing in the threshold of the red door, anxiously fiddling with the door handle.
Fortunately, Stanley was not going to do the Zending. He was doing the Sleep Ending. Stanley gently pulled the Narrator through the red door, handing over the Bucket in the process.
Looking down at the Bucket, the Narrator obviously experienced the calming effect, with shoulders sloping downwards and jaw unclenching. With a clearing of the throat, the Narrator returned to the script. "Do you realize that I really have wanted you to be happy all this time? The problem is all these choices. Don't you see that it's killing us Stanley? I just... I want it to stop. I would--we would both be much happier if we just stopped. And I think...well I think I have a solution." With a sniffle, the Narrator set down the Bucket to open the locked door (as the Narrator's other hand was occupied with a mobility cane).
But Stanley had come prepared. He picked up the Bucket, handed the Narrator the pillow, and strategically placed the Bucket in the doorway. The Narrator looked at him strangely.
"Stanley was abandoning his Bucket yet again. Does his friendship with the Bucket really mean nothing to him?"
Stanley rolled his eyes and pushed the Narrator into the Zen Room. The door tried to slam close behind them, but the Bucket propped it open.
"Oh...oh! Stanley! The Bucket! It's stopping the hallway from turning into the stairway! You're a genius!" The Narrator grabbed Stanley and pulled him into a one-armed, bone-crushing hug. Stanley's brain blue-screened at the contact. "We can experience the Zen Room--I can be happy--and then we can reset without you killing yourself! Oh, Stanley! This is wonderful!"
Then, just as quick as the Narrator pulled Stanley into a hug, the Narrator let go. "Of course, without me, there wouldn't have ever been a Bucket, so it really was a group effort." The Narrator tried to breeze past the moment of vulnerability, but Stanley knew that the Narrator was infinitely grateful. The Zending always took a lot out of the both of them.
Stanley spread the fluffiest blanket he brought on the floor and lay down. He held out his hands to the Narrator, who looked at him with a furrowed brow. Stanley gestured to the pillow in the Narrator's hands.
Realization passed over the Narrator's face and the pillow fell into Stanley's arms. "You're...sleeping here, so I can have a few hours in the Zen Room?"
Stanley nodded.
The Narrator inhaled sharply before smiling the biggest grin Stanley had seen. "Oh, Stanley!" The Narrator sat down next to him, set the cane to the side, and gazed lovingly at the glowing lights. "I finally feel...happy."
Curling up into the blankets, Stanley reached out and took hold of the Narrator's hand, squeezing before drifting off into sleep.
And Stanley and the Narrator were happy.
Hours later, Stanley woke up.
His head was pressed on something firmer than a pillow but not unpleasant, he was clutching his pillow to his chest, and there was a hand in his hair. Stanley rotated slightly and found himself sprawled out on the Narrator's lap, and it was the Narrator's hand that was running through his hair.
Smiling down at Stanley, the Narrator looked calmer and happier than Stanley had ever seen. "Time to reset?" the Narrator asked.
The Sleep Ending was the best ending.