Work Text:
Thirteen years in an underground orphanage, five having your identity stripped and being a slave to said orphanage, and ten living in fear of a ruling dictator in a crumbling factory. They flew by so quickly that Abigail Pierre could barely breathe without feeling like she had spent far too much time doing nothing.
Now lying on her back in the open fields of the afterlife, the grass swaying in the light breeze and the sound of younger children playing echoing across the fields. The calmness was something she had yet to get used to. Not having to live in fear of being torn apart after turning around every corner of the old factory, being outside in the fresh air and the sun for the first time since her birth, seeing all of her friends so happy and… free… it was new, and different.
But not a bad thing.
“What are you thinking?” soon came the voice of Abbie’s boyfriend, Christopher Rosenberg, who was sat in the grass picking at the dirt on his guitar.
“It sounds weird, but… about time,” Abbie replied. “About how slow it feels now. Time seems to escape you when you’re being chased down corridors by Huggy or Doctor Sawyer or Lily Lovebraids… hours could fly by without you even thinking about it. But now… I mean, we’ve only been here an hour, but it feels like an eternity. The silence, the peace, the lack of a strict routine and the freedom to do whatever all day… it’s odd.”
“But surely you don’t deem it a bad thing?” Chris asked.
“No! Of course I don’t. I’ve just never been one for change,” Abbie stated. “Good or bad, change stresses me out. Not to mention one as big as this.”
“I think I understand,” Chris said, putting his guitar down and falling back into the grass next to Abbie. “The wild difference between the past and the present is unsettling. But… if you think about it, if the past is something we wish to put behind us, why dwell on it? The same goes for the future, in a way. Why think about what could happen when we could just enjoy the here and now? Let the world sort itself out for a moment, for our sake, instead of burdening us with the prospect of what may or may not happen. You and I and all the others are safe and here and happy… and that’s a wonderful present to be a part of.”
Abbie stopped for a moment, titling her head to face her boyfriend.
“I don’t understand how you use such fancy words so easily,” she muttered. “But that’s one of the many things I like about you.”
Chris chuckled, looking back up at the bright, blue sky.
“I believe it was the conditioning that caused it, unfortunately,” Chris replied. “I had to act the part of a know-it-all, y’know?”
“But even before that. You were always much smarter than I was,” Abbie noted, picking at the grass underneath her. “And you’re not just textbook intelligent. You’re very emotionally aware. Even more so than some of the older kids. Heck, even more than some staff members.”
“I like talking and listening. I do it a lot. So I suppose it just came to me naturally.”
“Do you like listening to me?”
“Of course I do, silly. Why wouldn’t I? I love to hearken to your words even when no one else will.”
“Hm? What does that mean?”
“What does what mean?”
“That word. Hearken. What does it mean?”
“Ah! I suppose it just means to listen. To pay attention, to fully take in one’s words.”
“Oh yeah, you definitely do that with me. And I absolutely adore you for it.”
Chris’ face flushed red, and he let out a quiet laugh, rolling over to fully face Abbie.
“You’re welcome. I’m extremely grateful to have you here with me,” Chris said. “Even after all those years apart, we ended up back together. We can just enjoy the here and now without thinking about the future. Being adopted, or getting a job at the company if we didn’t, having to act like Bubba Bubbaphant and CraftyCorn, then being under the orders of The Prototype and having to constantly think about when we would be able to eat next, or being reminded of deaths of the people close to us… we never really had the time to live in the present. Sorry if it sounds like I’m repeating myself…”
“No, no it’s okay,” Abbie replied, rolling over to properly face Chris, like he had done. “I like it when you ramble. And you have memory problems, so I understand why you repeat yourself a lot.”
“Mhm.”
The two were quiet for a moment, before Abbie broke the silence with, “You know I’m always going to love you, right? No matter what.”
“Even with all my flaws?” Chris asked.
“Of course. I don’t see them as flaws. And besides, we all have our problems. But it doesn’t matter though, does it? It would be boring if we were all the same and completely flawless.”
“You have a point. And we’ll be together forever?”
“Mhm! Forever’s a very long time, but I would like to spend that time with you.”
“I’m glad you would. I would too.”
“Forever?”
“Forever.”