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The stars were always a comforting sight to see for you , even in the midst of chaos in the world; and especially with being stuck in the labyrinth of your own sins.
The signs and symbols in the sky during the relentless struggle often infatuated you; as they were quite pretty. Unfortunately, this would often lead to your death— though it was worth it most times. You always found space interesting, even if you never planned on pursuing a career for it.
So when John offered to stargaze with you, you accepted without much thought.
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Both you and John had settled down after a long run though the tangled mess that was your trial to redemption, laying on your backs some place near the water fountain like structures. Though you wanted to look at the stars, you were a bit distracted by John, looking at his face with lidded eyes. You’d notice him looking around the place, exactly like he did when you both first just.. appeared here. He would eventually settle his eyes to the sky though- but his face would quickly paint into disappointment. Being curious as to why, you would (with heavy reluctance) divert your eyes to the sky as well. It was completely devoid of any stars.
How …. Disappointing.
You suspected that your face had twisted to replicate the annoyance that John had showed, as he would steal a small glance towards you; before shifting his body over onto it’s side— his disappointment switching to a subtle frown instead.
“ I’m… sorry I lead you on to being excited about this. “
He would apologize meekly. It was cute to see his irises grow wide and sparkly in an attempt to seem more innocent and in turn gain more sympathy from you. Or maybe he did it because he knew you found it adorable. Either way it made him look like a kicked puppy; and made you pity him.
“ It’s okay, John. We both know you can’t control the stars so I can’t really pin the blame on you anyways.. “
“ There’s probably something else around here that could entertain us anyways. “
You would pull yourself up, glancing around the area to see if there’s anything of interest to you. You found nothing.
“ Okay..maybe not. “
Plopping back down with an under the breath sigh, you would pivot your head to look back over at John.
“ Do you think anything’s interesting here, John? “
He would remain still, before his cheeks had a faint red hue to them. It was clear he was thinking of something, but it’s hard to tell if it was just a preverted thought, or something he’s embarrassed about.
“ ….. You. “
John would avoid your confused gaze as he mumbled something else under his breath. You decided not to question the second half for now.
“ ..What does that even mean.? “
Without another word, he would slide up next to you, wrap his arms around you and promptly start to press his body onto yours.
“ .. oh. “
You would mutter to yourself, before awkwardly bringing your hands to his middle, giving him a soft squeeze in return.
He was warm. Extremely warm. His skin was also soft to the touch. It was quite comfortable in his grip, minus the fact he was shaking. You’d just take a guess and say it was from nervousness.
“ So… you have something you wanna say or..? “
Your tone was mocking, as you just wanted to tease and fluster him and see how red you could make his face get before he started screaming. He would only reply with a small ‘mm’, before he pressed himself further into your figure.
..You were so gonna tease him for this later.
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The night had passed. You weren’t sure where it went but you knew what it meant. Time for more redemption attempts !! yyayy…
John had wanted to attempt the “chaos” modifier…whatever that meant. He said it was something about “random entities” and “ higher numbers of them” as you progressed to the other saferooms. You really thought he was just making it up to scare you, but you soon figured out he was being literal, surprisingly.
You were currently in saferoom 3— John obviously also being with you. The added entities were Fool, Stem, and Rue— along with the usual Carnarion, Slight, Slugfish, and Elkman. You had also (accidentally) put on the bound trait for Dozer, So it’s safe to say you’re gonna have to put some work in to survive.
“ You ready? “ John would call out, stepping up to the pressure pad and glancing over his shoulder to look back at you.
“ I guess.. “ You weren’t quite sure that you’d be able to properly handle some of the entities— as you hadn’t even encountered the added ones yet, much less known how to deal with them!
You would step up next to John reluctantly, looking up at him, before you both stepped on the plate, letting the door fall forward before running out of it.
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Things were going relatively okay. You had quickly caught on to how dealing with the new entities worked, and kept your pace up nicely. If everything stayed like this, you’d for sure be able to make it to saferoom 4. Your thoughts were interrupted by Dozer appearing. It’d already appeared previously, the only difference was that Carnation had already been rushing behind you and John.
It would keep its eyes closed for just long enough for you to get near the entrance to the hiding spot for Carnation- so you stopped and kneeled/crouched, waiting for it to open its eyes.
John clearly didn’t realize what you were doing, as he would quickly shove you into the saferoom before sliding himself into it. Unfortunately, you couldn’t quite stop the movement before Dozer opened its eyes, so you died. It wasn’t a big deal. Yes, it hurt; but you’ve since been used to the pain.
Though, it took a while for you to be resurrected, and you ended up in the lobby instead of the next saferoom. Though as soon as you got spawned back, you were quickly grabbed by John and pulled into a tight grip, with his chin resting onto your head.
Tears from John quickly trailed onto the top of your head as he started to frantically apologize. You noticed he still hadn’t washed your blood off of him.
“ John. “
“ I’m sorry.. “
“ Joohhnn.. “
“ I’m sorry…. “
“ jjoohhhnnuh..! “
“ I’m so so sorry… “
“ JOHN! “
Your should would make him jump back slightly, tear stained eyes widening as he looked at your annoyed face.
“ it’s fine, John. “
He would wipe his eyes, walking back to his original spot in clinging to you.
“ but I- “
“ I’ve died countless times to Dozer before, John. It’s fine; I promise. “
He would relax at that, his wide and glossed over eyes relaxing as he wiped more tears away from his face. He seemed relieved that you weren’t wanting to hang and strangle him for accidentally killing you.
You would glance up, noticing the sun was setting into a pretty new moon. Prompting you to walk over to your usual sleeping spot; near the fountains. John would quickly follow suit— laying his back against the floor, as to mimic you.
John would wearily look over to you, his expression betraying him and his attempts to conceal his nervousness. You wondered as to why he was still antsy. Was it still from you dying, or something else?
“ John, are you still… anxious from killing me? I forgive you, dude. “
“…Nno it’s .. not that. “
“ Well what is it then? “
His face would turn back to the faint shift of red you saw last night, as he darted his eyes to look away from you, as he quickly mumbled something unintelligible.
“ .. what? You need to speak clearer— “
“ I LIKE YOU! “
His face would rear up to a dark cherry red as he buried his face into his hands, and rolled his back to face you. You had to stifle a laugh at that.
You would shuffle over to John, clinging to his torso, to which he would make a small noise of surprise, before he sifted himself back to face you again, his arms slowly coming up to your waist to hug back.
“ .. So is that a yes..? “
“ A yes to what? “
“ To dating me..? “`
You stifled yet another giggle, before pulling yourself up to his face, and planting a kiss onto his cheek softly ; causing his face to heat up to a neon red- to which you reacted by laughing, and burying your face into the gap between his head and shoulder. You would steal one last glance up, towards the sky.
There were finally stars for you to see.