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[Daemon wasn’t… Anything.
Or maybe he was. Maybe? Perhaps not. Who’s to say. That’s what made them so curious about your actions from the afternoon. It wasn’t a trap… She thinks at least.
No, if it was a trap it would have w̴̧̜̺̦̅̅o̷̧̨̗͗̌̂̚r̵̘̹̟̠̍k̶̡̛͍͔e̸̢̻̜̊̾͂͘d̸̥͔̣͉͒̑̔͝.
It wouldn’t have worked anyways.
Daemon wasn’t stupid. He knows his role, and they play it well. She loves it.
…The inside of the desk was cramped, but there was enough space to fill the infinite void inside of the desk. Easy place to stay and think. If they could even think. Did she? Maybe not. Maybe now.
How about now?
Or now?
Anytime would be good to think, but the thinking was already done, so who cares.
There wasn’t much reason to care. Not in this world at least. He was infinite. They thrived on compassion.
Maybe that’s why there was nothing.
Or the devs didn’t want to bother making the world more interesting. How sad. Daemon always liked interesting.
Were you interesting?
…
She was unsure.
You were out and about, talking to those meaningless objects. If only you knew they were just a cutout.
Could save you the trouble.
Could maybe cause trouble.
Now that might be fun…
But who was he to say? They were just a bug. Crawl spaces and all.
…
Did you leave? No, you were stupidly dedicated to keeping inside for those glasses. A shame. She could show you so much more if you just took his hand and let him.
But there were no hands to take. Not yet. Not yet at least.
There could be some scraps in the code that could be found… Maybe he’ll look there.
THUNK
What was that?]
Daemon glitched out of the dresser, appearing as their usual form once again. As she stood, Diana and Betty reacted, before speaking unintelligible, and then ceasing to exist at all for right now. That was normal, the other objects didn’t register Daemon well, due to the fact Daemon was, well… Daemon. He paid them no mind, walking through Betty and bedroom Dorian.
And that’s where they saw you.
You were hammered on the stairs, sitting on one stair and slouching your head on the other. You talked to Beverly after your nap, which while relieved to have a drink before bed today, due to your generosity of getting Bev off her feet and running the bar, she wanted to celebrate. Which you thought was fine enough, could be fun even…
The aftermath is now catching up with you.
Slouching from the stairs, Daemon catches you staring at her, your eyes glazed and tired. You notice Daemon just by the colours alone. “Ohhhh son of a…”
Daemon just stared from the bottom, his face blank, before seemingly smirking a bit. “Have fun?”
You try to sit up straight. “Ssshutthe fuck up… I knowyou don’t… Want to deal with me… Go away.”
Daemon's expression dropped blank again, lingering their stare before speaking to you. “Suit yourself.” Walking back to the dresser.
[This wasn’t what was expected. Though nothing could be expected of you sometimes. Not after today especially…
She could respect your privacy totally fine. Daemon never was one to help anyways. That wasn’t his purpose. Quite the opposite.
Maybe you would pass out on the stairs? Wouldn’t that be something… A memento of many regrets to come.]
You whined sad as you gave up on trying to climb up Stella.
[...Hm.]
Daemon touches where their collarbone would probably be if they had a full body.
[...Interesting. What was that spark on her chest? No, not a spark. But it felt like a spark… Did it? He wasn’t sure.
It seemed to have appeared from you…
How tedious.]
You make a small sniffle from the other room.
.̵̠͌̑̾d̸̖͎̝̪̎͑̀̂ă̷͇͌̈́̆ë̶̮͈̳m̴͔̌̈́́͐̃o̵͈̱͆̓́͒̈ͅn̴̠̱̗̊_̸̢̢̝͕̥̌ą̸̛͋̎̄͝u̵̦͙̿ḍ̸̨̧̘̇͋̕i̵̙̺̩͓͇͗̐o̶̮̖͍̫̥͆͐̈́̌̑_̶̦̥̘̞̅̽͜d̸͇̞̻̩̄̀e̵̢̖͚͊̿̾͛̏m̴̱̥̩̳̠̿̎̃̍o̵͖͚͆̏̐n̴̟̏_̷͍̠̜̻̺̏͌́b̷̰͂̿̌ủ̸̖̥̙̝̹̔́̕͝ḡ̸̞̥̞̱̽͐̇͝1̸̜̦̼̞͛̌̃5̷̤̑̓̌̅̚7̷͇̬̱͐̚͠͝͝
[What was that? It seemed to have been coming every time you did something. But why? What made you so significant? You didn’t even want anything.
...They remembered your hand. It was a first for Daemon. No one dared to touch her. Not even the devs. He was surprised you even managed to at all without getting hurt.
Why were they thinking of this right now? Is it because you’re downstairs? You didn’t need her help…
...Then again, Daemon knew what that feeling was. The feeling of abandonment. That sinking, twisted vine of being forgotten. He paid these feelings with open arms, figured out how to live around them. But did you? Probably not.
It’s not like it mattered much. That cold, empty cavern of recycling. It was dark. Lonely.
So
Very
Very
Lonely…
...Damn.]
After giving some thought, Daemon walked back into the hallway, causing a stream of temporary glitches behind him. They looked down at you again, and you caught a glimpse at her, wiping some tears from your face.
“D-Daemon, I told you, I don’t need you to…”
You knew you didn’t sound confident. Daemon could see right through you. Maybe literally actually-
“Too bad.” She states plainly, before teleporting from the stairs immediately beside you.
“AH- Fuck hi-” Well that was unexpected. Your reaction time felt wayyy off right now, and it didn’t help that he just looked like a bunch of blurred lines right now.
“Hold on.” They simply state, wrapping, or… warping? An arm around you. You couldn’t help but lean into it, but you tried to keep your balance.
“Up we go.”
“Wait, what are you-”
You could feel a fast jolt from his arm, causing you to startle. You didn’t even need to see the smirk on their lips.
“Just kidding.”
“W-Wait, what…?”
“...For real this time.”
There wasn’t any time to react. There was… A blur? A pixelated shelf that transformed over and over and over again. You felt like you were traveling through space. You couldn’t feel yourself. You knew you were there, and yet you ceased to exist. What the fuck was Daemon doing with you? It was hard to tell… Ẉ̷̽͝e̵͓̣̽̕r̸̞̅e̷̳̽̈́ ̷̱͋͠ỳ̵͕ͅo̵̢͔͝ù̶̦́ ̵̢̧̂e̵̲͗v̶̩̄e̸͇̻̓n̷͓͑ ̸̛̳ṫ̷̟̫̚ḫ̵̡̂͛e̴̬̪͆̋r̷͎̚e̸͕̾?̶̪̹͘̕ ̴͉̣̓̀W̷̨̦̗͙̄ḩ̸̠̟͇͓̈́͂͋ȅ̶̢̳͎̗̕͘ŕ̷̨̨̭̲̠̎͒́͘e̶̩̓̈͒͝͠ ̵͙̬͉̬̦̗͑ẏ̷̢͓̱̪͉̯o̸̢̲̝͕̎̈́̆̍̍u̶̦̅̽́-̶̞̜͓͎̄̀͜
“There.” Daemon’s voice comes back, and in what both felt like forever and in an instant, you were in your bedroom. Your head was spinning like crazy…
You were going to vomit.
Immediately, you stumble to the toilet, taking the dateviators off and hurling into the toilet seat. Poor Jean Loo.
[Daemon watched as you hurled, slightly unsure what to do from here. He got you up. That was the goal. The goal was achieved. Maybe teleportation wasn’t every drunk person’s kind of tea… If any. They wouldn’t know.
She saw you throw the dateviators onto the floor, causing him to pick them up himself. They glanced at them for a quick second before throwing them hastily onto the bed. Doing so, she crouched next to you where you were throwing up.]
“W-Wait… I can still see you?! Or am I losing it…”
Daemon couldn’t help but chuckle in that monotone voice “You think that you need those things just to see me? Oh please.”
“Well I didn’t know!” You pout before throwing your head down again. “Ugh, sorry Jean Loo…”
Daemon glanced at the toilet as you keep talking slowly. “...He’s probably mad at me isn’t he?”
[Unlike you, Daemon could see fragments on the dateables, and their delayed reactions. And it was true. Jean Loo was in fact mad, unbeknownst to you.
Well that’s just petty.]
“Let me shut him up.” Daemon says like it’s nothing, and knocks onto the toilet, causing both Jean Loo to freeze in time and the toilet to cascade glitches erratically.
You stare at Daemon in horror. “What, no!” You yell, concerned that Daemon seemingly corrupted Jean Loo out of existence.
“I thought he was getting in the way-”
“I don’t care, put him back!”
Daemon stared for a second, then sighed long as they undo their corruptions, but leave Jean Loo silent.
“It would’ve been easier if he was gone.”
You throw up again “What the hell is wrong with you? I get your whole schtick with nothing being real, and honestly I do NOT want to think about that right now, but Jean Loo is still a person, you can’t…” Your sentence dies as you lean on the seat, finished vomiting.
The room is deathly silent for a long time. Neither of you speak, but you look at Daemon with guilt in your eyes. Daemon looks as usual, but weirdly a bit more emotionless.
Daemon eventually stands, walking to the hand towel above the sink, and walks back to you. He leans down again, and begins wiping a bit past your lips.
“...L-Look, I didn’t mean to snap at you, I’m sorry… I’m just tired and drunk and this whole nothing matters thing still confuses me… Hell, it scares me sometimes…”
Daemon says nothing, just folds the towel down and blankly listens.
“I… I get it, I think I… Wait, what exactly were you even trying to do?”
“...Don’t bother.” Daemon says coldly, standing up and walking away.
“Wait-” You stumble up, but Daemon glitches to the other side of the room before you can grasp them, causing you to stumble on the floor. You groan before leaning up, laying your chin and arms on the edge of the bed. Daemon just stares coldly.
“I… I know. I just… You say these things so casually, but you’ve gotta remember I’m not used to hearing all this, or even thinking much of it until now, and between my job and the glasses and you, I… I can’t keep up with shit. But even then I… I’m intrigued by what you tell me. And Daemon, getting to meet you, it was… It was great.” You tear up a bit, voice groggy and slurred, talking like you might’ve ruined something “I-I know that… I’m slow with this, but hell… Everything I’ve heard from you, I’m in awe of how brave you are to handle all of this. Hell by yourself too… And the person that I got to meet because of some weird dresser glitch…?”
Daemon shifts a bit, but still stares cold. “Daemon, you are… So lovely. Yes, you can be scary at times and yes, your pranks while cheeky and cute can get… A lot. But you’re so kind… You’re so, so kind. And you're curious about everything and anything. Your perspective is one I admire to have one day, and god, you are handsome god dammit you are so handsome… And even the things I mentioned about you being scary and whatnot, they make you… Who you are. I know that’s cheesy as fuck but I don’t think you’d be the same if you wern’t born from a scrapped… Being. In a way, it clearly connects you further into this world then god knows how much.”
“My point is, is that… You’re great. You really are. And even if I’m concerned about certain things, there is… Nothing, nothing wrong with you…
Okay maybe there’s a little a lot wrong with you, you said so yourself, but my point isn’t what’s going on with your existence or your reason for being or whatever. My point is just… you.”
You can’t help but smile a bit “...Broken thing breaking things… That’s what you call yourself right? The bug in the beaker?
…I wouldn’t have it any other way.”
…
“...Wait, I got off track, this was about the Jean Loo thing, I-I’m sure you had good intentions-”
You yelp as you feel yourself being swung up into what felt like particles, two, or maybe three? Arms encase you as you hover in them. Daemon’s there, and she’s staring in at first what seems like a blank expression, but there’s almost something… Conflicted about his expression.
“...I, don’t know what to say to that.” They speak empty yet slightly confused, before leaning up from the bed, letting two arms dangle down as the other arm stays wrapped around your shoulder. You feel your body lean into the pixels on your own.
“...That’s okay… I’m not in a good headspace to articulate anyways… I just wanted you to know. I didn’t mean to hurt your feelings.”
Daemon looks off into the wall, before speaking quietly “...Nothing was hurt.”
You couldn’t help but catch that static in the sentence, but you didn’t push them. You just laid onto their chest, and sighed.
[Daemon didn’t feel much… And yet she felt everything… This moment felt more to the everything side… And somehow, nothing.
It’s not that he was mad, more frustrated than anything. It wasn’t even you saying “what the hell was wrong with them.” Many things were wrong. They knew this. It was calling it a “schtick”.
She knew her existence was a paradox. He wasn’t stupid. But they were mad that you would try and think to call them that. To make them think she didn’t know what he was talking about. They were many things, stupid wasn’t one of them.
But… You were drunk. That will affect any rational thought. Which makes the second part so conflicting to process…
The broken thing breaking things…
And you were fine with that. Encouraged it even. Daemon prided herself on being made better. He was thriving now. Enjoyed it more than ever. Frayed wire flying free…
But freedom came with a price.
It made them the target of Every. Single. Person. Who interacted with them to go at a pattern. A pattern of shapes and blocks. A pattern of nothing…
But you? You were fascinating. You were an anomaly…
You were genuine. That scared her.
Because genuineness is the worst weapon of all. That’s why he was so genuine all the time. It kept infinity going.]
“...Do I scare you?”
You shake your head “No… No you don’t.”
They frown “Damn… But you said I was scary.”
“I said that you could be scary… Not that you are scary.”
“What’s the difference?”
“...Your heart.”
[Dammit dammit dammit-
Did he bite? Did the world play a cruel trick on them? What’s to say? The pixels on her cheeks were not helping the situation.]
“...Well then. Now you’ve done it.”
“Done what-”
Through your hazy vision, Daemon’s lines grow softer. His forehead was now resting on yours, and their eyes softened at the edges, but were focused, only on you.
You felt your face go red, eyes widened as Daemon stroked a piece of hair out of your face, and speaks “...Do you feel dizzy?”
You’ve never heard Daemon so… Quiet before. Like too much noise would break something. “A-A little bit… Why?”
“I wanted to ask you something… But maybe I’ll save it for later.”
“Why not right now-”
In an instant, you feel Daemon switch your position somehow, startling you a bit before cradling you oddly comfortably against her, feeling pixels stroking your hair. “I-I-”
His voice was soft static “Easy…”
This was NOT what you were expecting, but you weren't complaining. Your mind was too fogged and your blood wasn’t sober enough for it to matter. You just accepted it for now.
“...I like you a lot.” You whisper into him. Or through him. You couldn’t tell. You didn't care.
You can hear the small static huff from them. “You intrigue me…”
Slowly, your mind was shutting down. You could see the edges darkening and the pixels in your hair didn’t help. It was almost like your mind was becoming a pleasant static… And…
[Daemon sees you passed out on her. His own mind felt focused in on you, and only you. How you listened. How you breathed. How you… Existed. It was wonderful.
Noting your exhaustion, they turn over your body and back on the mattress, your head falling back on the pillow. Daemon stays floating above you, and even though there’s nothing more to do… She can’t help but feel intrigued.
Maybe this never happened in the morning. Maybe it did. Not even he was sure of the outcome. This had gone miles off the script. You had broken the broken thing.
Wasn’t that something?
All night, Daemons stays still. Watching you. Hearing you. Sometimes they touched your arm, and you shuddered. Sometimes you grasp their jacket, and she lets you. And Daemon stayed there, watching, waiting, still…
Until the sun arrived, and he was gone.