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It's been months since the initial meeting between Mono and Six, and that also means it's been months since their expedition through the pale city and the horrific tower that looms over the center of it all. Whatever that thing is, both children decided they wanted absolutely nothing more to do with it, Six especially what with how hurt she felt after Mono’s “rescue” of her, not that she's let Mono know about this.
Regardless, now all the two were trying to do was escape this hellish place. Find somewhere safe, somewhere they can both just grow up and live semi-normal lives, or maybe even find others like them, if there were any left that is.
It was a dark thought, but for all Mono and Six knew, they were the last normal people out there. And even then, calling these two normal was pushing it given Mono's abilities and Six’s less than savory tendencies for violence.
However, no matter how dark, now is not the time for that, for the two are just on the outskirts of the pale city after all of their travels. Maybe they could have just gone backwards towards the hunter’s copse, but both agreed they would rather not return to a place that held so many bad memories.
Preferring to scamper like rats to find somewhere safe for a day while they made their way through the city. Something that they are currently doing right now.
…
Mono creeps forwards, pushing against a massive apartment door, listening intently for any grudges or sounds of a television that both him and Six have become familiar with over the last few months. The building seemed relatively empty, but this observation has been totally wrong in the past more times than either would like to admit.
Though by the looks of it, this was just another abandoned apartment building.
The first thing the young boy does is look for the TV set that is sure to be in this believed abandoned place. There is one in the center of the living room, smashed and destroyed completely.
‘Good,’ Mono thinks, breathing out quietly, relieved as this likely means this place is safe.
“Oi,” Mono calls in a whisper, turning back to his companion, Six, who's waiting at the bottom of the staircase, “It's empty, Six!” he exclaims, again in a quiet whisper.
Six says nothing, just climbs the stairs and approaches Mono, pushing the door open and passing the boy without a word. She doesn't mean to be rude really, but she's so exhausted and tired of the cold damp streets of the pale city that she desperately wants somewhere warm and cozy to rest in.
Mono doesn't point this out and walks in with her, to be honest he's sharing her sentiment right now too. He can't remember the last time he sat down, or slept for that matter.
He closes the door, shutting it completely behind him with a click before limping inside of the apartment. It's strange, moments ago, despite his aches and tiredness, Mono wasn't entirely that exhausted really. But the moment he shut the door of this place and heard the silence of it all pierce the air, well his body was practically ready to collapse.
“Mono…” Six calls, getting the young boy's attention, “C'mon… You look like you're about to collapse…” the raincoat girl points out, having stopped halfway to the couch when she noticed Mono had stopped moving.
She takes Mono's hand, something that Mono is usually the one to do actually, and tugs him along.
The two young friends sulk over to the couch of the apartment and climb up onto its sunken in dusty cushions. It's like heaven for the two.
“Haaaaaaaaaah…” Six dramatically sighs out as she flops down, the two lying either side of each other.
“Hmhm,” Mono chuckles through his lips, finding his friend's tiredness amusing, “Comfy?” he asks, trying to look at Six through the bottom of his paper bag mask.
She moves more up onto the arm of the couch, looking at Mono and the silly paper bag he insists on wearing constantly.
She grins at him, “Very, though don't act like you aren't either. You looked like walking death just a minute ago coming into this place.”
“I feel like walking death, that's for sure,” Mono admits, “First thing I'm doing when we’re out of here is learning to make us shoes. My feet are killing me!” Mono exclaims, throwing his arms up in the air.
Six chuckles at him now too, “That would be nice yeah, learn fast please,” she jokes back, grinning at the boy that she’s been traveling with for so long.
She tries to see some of Mono’s face, his bag lifted up just enough to see him smiling too, something seriously rare for both survivors.
“Well,” Six starts, “I’m going to sleep, we’re basically out of this place and I don’t know when we’re going to get to sleep on something like a couch again.”
Mono nods, feeling the tiredness overtaking him too, “Right, sounds good, Six.”
Six turns over onto her side, curling up and already closing her eyes, “Goodnight…” she mutters, immediately falling asleep the second her eyes shut.
Mono lays there, watching for a few seconds before muttering back, “Good… Goodnight…” and turning his focus away from her, deciding to look at the ceiling of the building they’re inside of instead while taking in the quiet of the room.
To be honest, Mono doesn’t want to fall asleep. Every time he does, no matter what, he’s plagued by nightmares upon nightmares. No good dreams come to the children of this world it seems, and Mono is no exception. But he also knows he can’t stay awake forever, and if they’re going to get out of here safely for good, he needs his rest.
And so, he sleeps, reluctantly so, but still he sleeps. The only thing making it so easy for him to do so being just how tired his whole body is…
…
It's cold. Cold, and dark, with only a slight white light visible for Mono to see. Everything is crumbling and sounds like the walls around him are being destroyed.
His feet are dangling, the ground nowhere near him from what he could tell, and Six is the only thing in the boy's view. His hand clenches onto hers, he's hanging off the side of a ledge, an all too familiar memory for Mono… An all too familiar nightmare.
In the tower, where Mono rescued Six and made his escape with her back into the Pale city, she pulled him up and the two barely made it out alive. But…
As Mono shouts for Six to pull him up quickly, nothing comes from his mouth, as if something is filling his maw and refusing any words to escape his lips. Or maybe it did and the crumbling room around him is just so loud he is unable to be heard.
However, it didn't matter, no amount of pleading or shouting would stop what was to happen. And Mono knows what is about to come next, it's came to him countless times every time he dreams.
But the worst part of all of this? It was Six’s face.
She looks cold, uncaring, or unimpressed at the young boy whose life is dangling in her hands. And her eyes, her dark red eyes that Mono rarely can see, are somehow so full of hate all at the same time…
And so, she lets him go, and Mono falls.
Dropping down into the pitch black cavern of this tower while Six disappears past the ledge she was laying over to leave. He had been abandoned, left to die and rot alone at the bottom of this tower, and no matter how much he tried to scream or beg for her to come back, to save him… She wouldn't.
…
“Mono…” a soft voice calls, Six shaking Mono gently, “Mono? Hey, wake up.”
Any paralysis that Mono's body has vanishes immediately, “Hah!!!” he gasps out harshly, shooting upright from his spot on the couch.
Six leans away slightly, not too startled as she figured he’d be jolting up like this, he just needs a bit of space.
His hand is clutching his chest and he's breathing really hard, and though Six can't see his face, she can tell Mono is sweating right now too.
He spends a few seconds trying to recompose himself, looking around the apartment in a strained control and seeing none of what he had dreamt was a reality. He's safe, Six didn't drop him… She didn't abandon him.
“Oi,” Six calls again, getting the young boy's attention, the paper bag covering his expression of fear as he looks at her.
She's knelt down besides him on the side of the couch near the edge, it's big enough that even width wise it can fit them both on it, though just barely. She looks worried for him, and that alone is enough to calm Mono down a lot.
He lets go of his chest, trying to control himself first, “S-Six? What's wrong, is everything okay?” he asks, trying to sound concerned for her, not wanting to dwell on the dream he just had.
She nods, “Mhm, everything's fine. But you were shaking a lot. Tossing and turning. You okay?” she asks, getting a little closer to Mono.
He nods at her, of course he does, “Y-Yeah, I'm fine! Just um… The couch is a little rough I guess,” he says, unconvincingly may I add.
Though he can't see her eyes, even Six looks at him with an unimpressed gaze.
‘He’s so bad at lying. But… He never tells the truth to me when he's afraid. It was the same back at the hospital when he escaped those mannequin things,’ she thinks, finding this part of Mono both annoying and endearing.
“Okay… Let's try that again,” she says, Mono's heart sinks immediately, “You had a nightmare, didn't you?” she asks while she reaches out to take Mono's hand, “You do every time you sleep.”
Mono struggles to swallow, a lump trapped in his throat refusing him any relief, “I… How do you know that?” he asks, not able to hide anything from Six it seems.
“You toss and turn like this every time you sleep. I'm always up before you so I see it happen every time,” she explains, her tone soft and consoling to be as gentle as possible with Mono, not trying to make him feel like she's accusing him of something.
“O-Oh…” Mono mumbles, feeling embarrassed that she sees this from him every time he sleeps.
There's an awkward silence between the two, Mono doesn't know what to say, and Six wants to ask him something but isn't sure how.
“Sorry…” Mono says to her, sitting up so he's facing Six a little bit more, “I-I bet I woke you up then, huh?” he says, feeling sorry for himself like always and jumping to conclusions.
She shakes her head, “No, you didn't,” she assures, scooting closer to him again, her knee touching Mono’s hip with how close she is, “Do you wanna talk about it?” she asks, “It looked like a really intense nightmare, so.”
Mono begins to tremble, he's terrified right now more than anything. How do you tell someone so concerned for you that they were the bad guy in your nightmare just now without making it sound insulting?
“I…” he starts, the young boy curling his legs up to his chest and holding himself, the bag on his head rustling, “You drop me…” he says plainly.
Six tilts her head, “Drop you?” she repeats, not sure what he means by this.
“It's the same nightmare every time…” he croaks out, he's not crying exactly but he sounds like he's close to it, and it's making Six already regret in asking him for the details on his nightmare, “I wake up in that tower, dangling from that ledge that you caught me at just before we escaped. Everything is crumbling around us, it's all the same as when it actually happened, so real. B-But…” he stops, his heart is pounding out of his chest and he doesn't dare to utter these words too quickly, as if saying them may actually make his nightmare come true.
Six has an idea of what happens in his nightmare though, apart from what Mono just said earlier, she has an idea because admittedly she really did think of letting Mono go after what he did to her in that tower. The only reason she hadn't was because she couldn't imagine going through this world alone again, and she will never forgive herself for even just having such a thought for her best friend.
“You drop me…” he finally says, looking at Six, his bag hiding how hurt he looks from the young girl next to him who's listening and waiting patiently for him, “You drop me, let me go, and I'm alone… A-All alone,” he croaks, his lips quivering as he struggles to hold it together, crying silently inside his bag.
“Mono…” Six mutters, not sure what else to say since this really could have been her friend's reality had she listened to those dark thoughts of hatred and betrayal.
She watches as some of Mono's bag becomes damp with his tears, able to tell her friend is crying now though it's more obvious with his tears being more of a blackened ooz color over clear liquid that is staining his bag.
She reaches out, touching the bag hiding her friend's face, starting to lift it off his head only for him to suddenly gasp and try to back away from her.
“D-Don’t take it off!!!” he cries, his hands making a grab for both ends of the paper bag, tugging it down to keep it on and pushing himself away, trying to escape further into the couch cushions behind him.
Six backs off quickly, her hand hovering in front of her still, feeling guilty immediately.
“I-I… I'm sorry,” Six says, apologizing to him without hesitation, “I-I… I didn't mean to… I-I didn't…” she stops, not knowing what she should even be apologizing for really, “I didn't mean to hurt you Mono,” she says, not sure what else she could say, “I-I just… You sound so scared, and you're crying, I was just trying to help, b-but I just ended up making it worse…” Six sniffles, also starting to cry now too.
Both the guilt of her previous dark thoughts and the innocent action she took to try and comfort her friend become too much for the young girl as well.
Mono looks back at her, frantic now, “N-No!” he says quickly, his voice cracking as he's also still weeping himself, but he doesn't want Six to get the wrong idea here when she was just trying to help, “N-No, you didn't make a-anything worse!” he tries to assure, holding Six by her arms gently, “I-I just… My face…”
Six, at least for a moment, manages to pull herself together and look at Mono. She really can't tell what he's thinking because of the silly bag on his head, but then again she has an idea he's contemplating what he should do.
The bag, she felt, has always been a sensitive topic for Mono, and often she's wanted to ask him about it or get him to take it off. Even after he just freaked out at her for even just touching it, now does seem like a better time than ever to ask him directly.
She wipes her eyes and nose, Mono letting her go and waiting, hoping he didn't hurt her feelings too badly despite this fact being the complete opposite.
“Mono..?” Six calls again, “Can I please see your face..?” she asks politely.
“Ah?” Mono falters, about to give an immediate no though gives a second thought instead, and surprisingly, he nods at her after a few seconds of thinking it over.
‘Six… She's my friend, she wouldn't leave me, she… S-She won't care, right?’ he thinks, not able to tremble more than he already is as Six takes the paper bag on his head from both sides, slowly lifting it up, ‘S-She’s going to hate me… Oh gods she's going to hate me!!! W-Why am I letting her do this?! I-I’m going to lose her, I-I’m about to lose my only friend, I-I-’
His thoughts are interrupted once the bag he's wearing is taken off completely, and thankfully Six doesn't just straight up toss it away either but rather sets it down next to Mono's feet for now in case he decides he can't handle this.
“Hmm,” Six hums, looking at Mono’s face which isn't at all what she was expecting, in a good way that is.
With how he was reacting and treating this, she honestly was expecting his face to be a bit mangled, or a massive scar to be sprawled across his face. Something gruesome really that warranted him hiding his face from the world.
But actually, he looks normal really, pale skin, more innocent than one would expect a child of a nightmare world to look, he's cute really or at least Six thinks so. Even then a lot of his face is still hidden as it is by his wavy black messy hair, something Six fixes by gently pushing the strands of hair aside.
But, that's when she sees it, his eyes. The only thing that's off about him are his eyes. His scleras are completely pitch black, like the screen of a powered off TV, rather than white with his irises being exactly that instead. Bright white irises that almost look like they're glowing even.
Mono glances at Six a few times, timid and waiting for a more intense reaction from her instead of just a simple “Hm”.
“Your eyes, they're-” she starts though Mono doesn't let her finish.
“I-I know…” he replies, starting to cry again, black tears trickling down his face, “I-I’m a freak,” he sobs out, weeping in front of Six.
These eyes of his are the cause of so much of his grief in life, to the point that he prefers to hide himself away from the world in the paper bag he is so insistent on wearing everywhere.
“C-Come on already,” Mono sobs, looking up at Six, his face stained with black tears already, “G-Get it over with already, please! C-Call me a freak! Tell me how gross my eyes are and that I deserve to wear this stupid bag on my head!” he shouts, practically demanding it from the girl in front of him.
Mono starts to glitch, quite literally, his body is reacting like a static television set struggling to get a signal. Something Six has only ever seen happen with him once when they were being chased by the Thin Man months prior. Something she never bothered to ask about as she completely forgot about that until now.
Six however remains calm, she figures that something so minor to her is the most demoralizing thing to Mono, even something as insignificant as his eye color. If anything she's more worried about him glitching! She could already guess he had to have some hidden power or whatever, she can't think of any other way he had beaten someone as powerful as the Thin Man without some supernatural strength to match him. But she never would've guessed that this was what Mono was hiding from the world.
She reaches out to Mono, both her hands taking his glitching face into her palms, wiping his eyes with her thumbs and staying close to the terrified boy. His face is cold but his tears warm, and with each sniffle that comes from him, his body glitches more. He's a mess really.
“Call you a freak..? Tell you your eyes are gross?” she repeats, making Mono look at her again, he's still crying and looks so hurt but he's at least listening to her speak, “Why would I do that to you, Mono? You're my friend.”
Mono gasps after hearing the word “friend”, the pain in his chest and trembling in his body ceasing for a few moments. It's like he was just in some fight or flight situation and is only starting to realize he's not in any real danger.
Mono moves to also sit on his knees now too, getting comfortable as best he can while Six wipes away the tears in his eyes and snot from his nose with her raincoat sleeve.
The young girl even takes off her coat’s hood too, revealing her face to her friend to hopefully not make him feel so abnormal about having his bag off his head around her. Shaking the hair out of her eyes just enough that Mono can slightly see her dark red orbs peaking through strands of black hair.
Slowly, Mono calms down, no longer crying and feeling very conflicted about what's happening right now. He's relieved at this reaction, happy even to hear Six call him her friend, but this truly is a completely alien feeling to him. No one has ever reacted so normally to his condition, but he doesn't feel stressed or scared anymore. So much so that his body is no longer glitching uncontrollably, something Six can't help but smile warmly at.
Mono slowly envelops Six into a hug, thankful to her and glad she's here with him, and it's a sentiment she shares by hugging him back.
It doesn't take long for the two to move to something more comfortable, Mono sitting against the sofa’s armrest and Six sitting between his legs lying against his chest, using Mono as her own chair while he hugs her from behind until he's ready to let her go. The silence of the apartment being a welcomed difference to Mono's pain filled sobs.
“... Thank you, Six,” Mono mutters, his friend looking up and behind her shoulder at him.
“Don't thank me, dummy,” she warns though jokingly, “I'd be an idiot to push you away for something so dumb…” she says, not wanting to be alone again almost as much as Mono now, “Honestly I'm insulted you'd even think I would just leave your side because of your eyes, regardless of your nightmare,” she scolds, yawning at the end of her lecturing as tiredness continues to take her once more, not that the warmth from Mono’s hug is helping her fight her drowsiness.
He nods at her, holding her a little tighter now, feeling so secure after hearing her assure him of this.
“Okay… I-I understand,” he says, “Um… Are you still tired by the way, Six?” he asks, noticing Six’s yawn just now and realizing he likely did wake her up during the middle of his nightmare.
She nods at him, yawning again and smacking her lips afterwards, “Mhm, I am,” she says, rubbing her eyes before her hands rest on Mono's now, holding him too, “But… I don't really want to go back to sleep…” she mutters, the tone of her voice ominous and suggestive of something unpleasant.
“Why not?” Mono asks, trying to look her in the eyes, leaning over her shoulder to do so.
She holds his hands tighter, curling her legs up to her chest and avoiding any eye contact with him, “Well… You aren't the only one who gets nightmares, Mono…” she admits, cluing Mono in to all he needs to.
‘So that's why she's always up before me… I guess I shouldn't be surprised, in all honesty, we've both been through a lot…’ Mono thinks to himself, a little sad he never noticed his friend suffering from the same thing he does.
“Oh…” Mono looks past Six, seeing his bag still sat at his and Six’s feet, “Do you… Well, want to maybe sleep next to me? It might help,” he asks, a little hesitant but deciding to offer his companionship to his friend even in their dreams.
Six turns around to look at Mono better, her red eyes making contact with his pure black ones and seeing the genuineness in them. Not that he isn’t ever ungenuine in his approaches with her, Mono’s the most caring person Six has ever met…
She turns onto her side, sitting on her hip before she nods at Mono, not saying anything to his offer and just taking him up on it instead.
Mono leads Six, making sure she’s the one to lay down next to the couch’s back so there’s no risk of her falling off before he joins her.
The two cuddle one another gingerly, they’ve never done this before with anyone, let alone each other, so they aren't sure exactly what to do. All either of them know is that their hearts are pounding out of their chests by this point, and they both feel a little silly.
Still, once they’re settled in together and comfortable, it’s actually really nice. Almost as if on instinct, Six practically buries herself into the crook of Mono’s neck, and her arms are already wrapped around him too. It’s strange, Six isn’t one to easily get attached, but for some reason already she’s really loving this. Maybe she and Mono are just that touch starved, and no one would be shocked by that fact either.
And it's a feeling that Mono gladly returns the gesture to, cuddling her back in an almost cautious way. It's like he's afraid of hurting her somehow, but once he finally gets comfortable and used to this warmth of being so close to someone like Six, it brings an immediate sense of relaxation, overwhelming them both.
Six, feeling a bit weird still, chuckles to herself, “You know, for someone who hasn’t showered in months, you don’t smell that bad,” Six says, Mono laughing at her comment, figuring this is her trying to make herself feel less awkward about this situation.
“Thanks, you brat,” Mono retorts back, glad to play along with her, and feeling just as awkward as she does too, but in a good way.
She shifts a little, moving her legs so hers entangle with Mono’s, “You aren’t going to fall off, are you?” Six asks, immediately changing the topic to Mono’s well being as he’s the one sleeping practically on the edge of the sofa.
He shakes his head, looking down at her with his pitch black eyes, “I won’t, don’t worry, Six,” Mono assures gently, moving so his hand is now resting on the back of her head, her hair surprisingly soft despite how filthy both of them likely are, “But if you’re still scared to fall asleep, we don’t have to yet.”
Six, now blushing a little bit, nods at Mono. Opting to hide herself in his chest and neck more so he can’t see her, but also deciding she outta try actually going to sleep now.
And sleep she does, as Six ends up passing out within just a few minutes of laying next to Mono, even snoring softly indicating to Mono that she’s sleeping peacefully, and much more than she normally would be.
He smiles at her, and he almost feels like crying again too, so happy to have met Six, but not only that, he's happy to have a genuine friend in this awful world. And so, he too closes his eyes, and for the first time, Mono isn't terrified to fall asleep, not worried or anxious in possibly having another bad dream or sleepless night.
For once, he's reassured that Six won't be there again, dropping him into that endless void all alone. That whether it be for the rest of their days or, at the most, just for tonight, they both would have no more nightmares…