Work Text:
Alan sat at his computer, fingers moving seamlessly across the keys of his keyboard. Outside, the ethereal glow of moonlight shone through his uncurtained window. That, along with the bright blue monitor screen, were the only sources of light that late into the night.
The digital time read 1:39 am, an unusual time for the young man to be up. While he wasn’t a morning person by any means, Alan preferred maintaining a decently early bedtime to avoid the uncomfortable lethargy that came with a lack of sleep.
Tonight, however, he had unfinished business. Between working a day-time job, pursuing animation as a side gig, spending some time with his girlfriend Kaori, and hosting a rowdy group of childlike stick figures on his PC, he had forgotten to complete a skit for a video that he and DJ planned to shoot the following day. He nearly ran the risk of forgetting it altogether, saved at 10 pm by a text from his best friend while he was brushing his teeth. So much for retiring to bed.
Luckily, deciding what to write wasn’t a difficult task—he already had the ideas in his head, and it was just a matter of putting it on a document in a way that made sense.
The sounds of repeated clicking and tapping soothed the midnight silence. Skimming over what he’d written a couple times, he deemed his work for the night complete and hit save. Any final polishes and edits could be done in the morning, as he had until the afternoon to send it to DJ.
Rolling his chair back a bit, he stretched his legs out and popped his back, a deep yawn escaping him. He was about to move his cursor to lock his screen, before he noticed movement from behind the open document page.
Propping the tab to the side, he trained his eyes onto a thin orange body with a ring-shaped head. His creation, Orange, froze dramatically with his leg suspended, as if caught doing something suspicious. It was quite an amusing sight, and yet Alan found it to be equally odd. He couldn’t recall the last time he had seen Orange stay up late—the sleep-loving hollowhead adhered to a strict early bedtime schedule, and hated being kept up by his friends’ noteblock shenanigans or anything else. Tonight seemed to be a different story.
Alan decided against communicating through text like he always did, opting to talk through his mic instead. Orange could hear him, even if he himself couldn’t hear the stick figures.
“Hi, O.”
The orange hollowhead stood still for a second before limply waving his hand in greeting. A text box popped up above his head.
Wut r u doin up late
Alan blinked at the text slang, an unexpected sight coming from the normally grammatically-perfect stick figure. Nonetheless, he replied to the question.
“I had some work to finish, it was really important so I had to get it done tonight.”
Oh
“What about you?”
That seemed to spur something in his creation. Orange started to shift on his feet as he fidgeted with his hands. Although Alan couldn’t see the expressions he was making, he had spent enough time around stick figures to be adept at reading their body language. Watching Orange, he discerned that his creation wanted something but was hesitant to ask. Alan sat back, waiting patiently for the hollowhead to continue.
Couldn’t sleep, been awake for hrs
Alan frowned, concern settling in his chest. He looked the stick figure over.
“Did you have a nightmare?”
Orange shook his head.
“Are you sick?”
Again, his creation shook his small head.
Just can’t sleep. Is weird, tired but can’t sleep
Alan hummed, thinking for a moment. “Well, did you try getting one of your friends to help you out?”
RGYB asleep. Didn’t want 2 wake them. Saw you awake. So…
Orange’s text trailed off, shoulders tensing. The text disappeared, replaced quickly by another.
I can help u with ur work— animation? Or writing??
Alan raised an eyebrow at the subtle change in topic, but didn’t question it. He drew his cursor over to the still-open document to show Orange what he’d been working on.
“It’s a script, but I’m pretty much done with it. I was actually just about to sign off before you came by.”
Oh
Orange’s head dipped slowly. He stood there, foot tapping against the taskbar. Alan had the faintest feeling that the hollowhead was disappointed by his answer.
Ok, Good. Goodnight
Alan startled at the abrupt farewell. Orange turned around and began walking back towards his house. Watching him leave, Alan suddenly remembered the bigger issue at hand.
“Wait, what about you? Are you going to be able to sleep alright?”
The hollowhead stopped, his back still turned. (Not like that mattered, Alan couldn’t see stick figure faces anyways.)
Maybe
“That’s… not an encouraging answer.” Alan sighed. As he stared at the hollowhead, trying to figure out what else he could do to help Orange, an idea struck him. To be honest, he found it to be a little stupid. He wasn’t sure if it would work on stick figures as well as it did on…
Well, he could certainly try it out. There was no harm in it.
He nudged Orange with the tip of the cursor until the stick finally turned around again.
“Do you want me to help you fall asleep?”
Orange tilted his head.
How?
“Well… you remember watching that facebook video with me? The one with the mother rocking her baby to sleep?”
Alan didn’t need to see his expression to feel Orange’s deadpan glare.
I am NOT a baby.
“Yeah yeah, I know,” Alan chuckled, raising a hand in mock surrender. “That’s not the point I was trying to make. Rocking is a soothing motion that helps some people relax before sleeping, and it's not restricted to small children. It definitely helps me when I go on long car trips,” he adds, when Orange’s crossed arms give off a hint of uncertainty.
“Hold on.” Alan pulled out his phone, opening Spotify and locating his lofi playlist. He plugged his phone into the PC, allowing the soft tunes to flow into the background. He made sure to make the volume low enough so as to not disturb the other four sticks.
He clicked into his settings next, enlarged his cursor, and brought it down to Orange.
“Just climb on and lay down, okay?”
Orange stood there, very still for a second. Then he pulled himself up onto it, laying with his body facing Alan.
Alan lifted the cursor a safe distance from the ground, ensuring that Orange wouldn’t hurt himself if he happened to fall off. Watching the young hollowhead, he slowly moved his mouse, causing his cursor to sway from side to side.
In the first two minutes, nothing seemed to happen. But little by little, Alan could see the tension melt away from the stick’s body as he squished his cheek into the cursor. Orange looked so much smaller now, maturity slipping away to reveal a childish vulnerability that Alan rarely got to see.
Orange turned to lay on his stomach, limbs dangling from the cursor. In his headphones, Alan heard a soft puff of air. Then…
Thank u dad
Alan stopped moving the mouse, his eyes widening as he read the text. He was unsure of how to respond, reading it over and over to make sure he wasn’t mistaking the text.
Dad.
Dad.
He wasn’t—that—Huh.
Orange squirmed on the cursor, tapping his nub clumsily against the white body. He apparently hadn’t noticed the accidental slip-up through his increasing drowsiness. Alan shook his thoughts away and began rocking the hollowhead again, smiling when he heard another small exhale.
One thing Alan hoped to do some research on in the future was the method of stick figure communication. He knew stick figures were able to communicate verbally with each other. As for him, he and other humans (DJ) could hear some of the sounds stick figures made, but not actual speech, something that had always confused him.
“Is it working?” Alan asked a minute later.
Mm hm. The text colour was noticeably fainter than its usual bright orange. The small creation curled up, wrapping an arm and leg around the side of the cursor.
Alan stayed silent after that, continuing his motions until the lofi tune drifted off, and the rise and fall of the hollowhead’s chest slowed and deepened. When the sounds of soft snoring drifted through his headset, Alan slowly brought his motions to a halt.
Warmth bloomed in his chest as he watched his son creation sleep—comfortable, trusting, and so, so small. Alan held back from whispering goodnight, not wanting to wake the hollowhead.
Now there was the matter of getting the sleeping hollowhead to his room, which prompted an issue. Alan’s cursor couldn’t exactly fit into their houses.
Fortunately, it seemed someone else was up. A small blue head peeked out from the house, moving to the center of the screen. The stick figure greeted Alan with a nod. Then he cocked his head up, presumably looking at Orange, before turning his head back in his direction and waving his arm in question.
“He couldn’t sleep, so I helped him,” Alan said. “Now he just has to be put back in bed.”
Blue nodded. He made reaching motions up at the sleeping hollowhead, balancing a bit on the tips of his feet.
Alan lowered the cursor to the ground. Blue, with small, careful movements, managed to get Orange in a bridle carry without waking him. The hollowhead shifted a bit, wrapping his arms around Blue’s neck. Blue’s body shook lightly as he seemed to giggle, the hand under Orange’s head moving back and forth in a soothing, caressing motion.
There was something about Blue that struck Alan as oddly familiar. The stick reminded him an awful lot of Kaori—soft, empathetic, caring, and yet bold. Then there was an almost endearing side to both—something parental and mature. Maybe, one day, the two could properly meet. Alan had no doubt that they would get along, especially if they decided to exchange cooking recipes. God knows how much Kaori would love Blue, love all these stick figures, as if they were her own children.
Blue looked up at Alan once more, the human realizing that he had been staring at the small exchange with a smile. Blue’s head tilted down at the stick in his arms, then back up at him. Then, he slowly walked towards the screen, stopped, and pressed his spherical head against the screen.
Alan’s heart warmed as he understood what Blue was trying to do. Bringing his index finger up, he placed it onto the monitor screen, where Blue’s head rested on the other side. If he focused hard enough, he could almost feel the warm presence of life at his fingertip.
No words needed to be spoken in the moment that spanned. Blue eventually pulled away, bobbed his head once in a final acknowledgement, before walking off to the colour gang’s shared Minecraft house with his armful of hollowhead.
Alan’s gaze lingered even as they disappeared out of view. The world seemed to settle as he was once again the only one awake. Yet the warmth in his finger and chest remained as he switched off his monitor and got into bed. He stared up at the ceiling, thinking over the brief but warm interaction with Blue, and the last words Orange had said before falling asleep.
Thank you dad.
Alan didn’t think he deserved that title yet. Not after what he had done to his previous creations, especially Victim. Not after how he had treated Orange and his friends during their first encounter. He had a lot to make up for, and many apologies left unsaid.
But he vowed to try his best to fix his mistakes, and try his best to be the guardian they saw him as. Five caring and bright stick figures currently living on his PC, even despite their independence and strength, needed him.
And he would be lying if he said he didn’t need them as well.