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Another day, another “fun” adventure.
You’d only been here a few days (or, a few adventures, anyway), and you already felt utterly hopeless. You shouldn’t have snuck out of your room that night, you shouldn’t have met up with your friends at that abandoned office, and you shouldn’t have put on that stupid headset.
Currently, you were doing your best to avoid today’s adventure. You and the other players had been transported to a mansion and given a “spooky” murder-mystery to solve. The massive estate you were in gave the impression that it had once been elegant, but now it was run-down, cobwebs lingering in the dark corners of every room. On the bright side, its ridiculous number of rooms meant there were plenty of places to hide. You slipped away from the others as soon as you could.
Now, here you were. Curled up, sad, and alone.
And you were never going home.
You stared down at the floor as tears stung your eyes. Your ribs felt like they were closing around your lungs, vibrating with tension.
You were so stupid. Stupid, stupid, stupid.
You shut your eyes and let hot tears roll down your cheeks. You tucked your head down, hiding your face in your knees.
You don’t know how long you were crying for, but soon you heard a noise. Your head shot up. It might be another player or an NPC. Either way, you didn’t want to deal with that. You stayed still, eyes glued to the dark wooden door. A sliver of light peeked through the bottom of it, and you could see something’s shadow come into view. The door creaked open, and there stood that chess-piece person. Kinger. Right.
You sighed, deflating in relief and annoyance. At least it wasn’t one of the others who’d come to drag you away. He was nonsensical. Sometimes he made you laugh, but you really weren’t in a laughing mood.
“Oh. Hello,” he said with a wave.
You frowned and avoided his eyes. You crossed your arms over yourself tighter, wishing to make yourself so small you’d disappear. Even if he wasn’t the sharpest tool in the shed, it was embarrassing to be caught crying.
He stepped inside- or, shuffled, in some way, since he didn’t have legs.
“What are you doing all by yourself? Looking for clues?” He asked, looking around the room.
“No. Go away,” you whined, turning away from him. You felt your face scrunch up as your eyes stung again. You could only imagine how silly you looked.
You didn’t hear anything for a few seconds. Then, the door shut, the room enveloped in darkness again. You heard Kinger shuffling closer. Then, maybe the sound of him sitting down. You expected him to say something adults always say, like, “what’s wrong?” or, “it’s okay, don’t cry.” But, he didn’t say anything. You didn’t look up. The only sounds in the quiet room were your sniffling and uneven breaths. You cried, fingers clutching your clothes.
After another moment of silence from him, you lifted your heavy head to chance a look at him. What was he doing?
You looked, and he was staring out at nothing with those big googly eyes. He turned to you and jumped a little, then waved.
“Oh, hi! Didn’t see you there,” he greeted. “What are we hiding for?”
Despite yourself, you smiled a little at his question. He really couldn’t read the room. You looked down and wiped your nose on your sleeve.
“I don’t know,” you mumbled.
“Oh.” He looked out again and blinked a few times.
You glanced at him. He might not know what’s going on, but it was kind of nice to have company. It wasn’t that bad, anyway.
“Um… how is the adventure going?” you asked.
“Oh, I’m not hungry, but, thank you for asking,” he replied, shaking his head.
You exhaled through your nose. “That’s not what I… nevermind.”
“We should probably be looking for clues to help the others. This one’s a real thinker! The killer could be anyone… It could even be me!” He said cheerfully.
“…Is it you?”
“Is what me?”
“Are you the killer? In this… mystery thing?”
“I don’t know. I don’t remember,” he answered, idly scratching his head.
Kinger turned to you, looking at you yet again like he was seeing you for the first time. This time seemed a little different, but you couldn’t place why.
“…What happened?” he asked.
You furrowed your brows. “What?”
“I meant, why are you crying?” he asked gently. He put a gloved hand on your shoulder as he leaned a little closer, trying to meet your eyes. You only spared him a confused glance. Well, he finally picked up on the fact you were crying. It actually surprised you.
“Because I’m in this stupid circus, why else would I be crying?” you snapped.
He flinched and pulled his hand away. The silence felt heavier. You thought of apologizing, but the lump in your throat told you not to.
“…sorry,” Kinger said instead. “It’s… perfectly understandable to be sad about that.”
Your tense shoulders relaxed just a hair. Studying the floor again, you let the silence stretch before replying.
“I… thought the circus was sort of cool at first but… I miss real life. And everyone says there’s no way out.” You let one hand reach down and trace over the grain of the floorboard. “It’s scary.”
Kinger watched you carefully. He understood all too well what you felt. He nodded, though you weren’t looking at him.
“It is scary, isn’t it? But, we’ve got each other. You’re not alone in feeling like that.”
“I don’t want the people here,” you said, voice cracking as tears welled up again. “I… I want my mom. I want my dad. Everyone here, they don’t understand how I feel! They don’t even care!” You let out a sob, ducking your head to save what little dignity you had left.
Kinger’s eyes widened in alarm as you began to cry again. He lifted his hand to touch your shoulder, but hesitated. Maybe you wouldn’t react well to it. He played it safe and took it back. The way you spoke, it made him wonder how old you were. He’d noticed you had a rather high-pitched voice, but so did Gangle, and she was an adult. He’d never considered that someone younger could be stuck here.
Not noticing his internal panic, you continued.
“I miss everything. I’m so stupid, it’s all my fault,” you cried, putting your head in your hands.
“Hey, hey,” he said gently, finally reaching out to touch your shoulder. “Don’t say that. You’re not stupid. You… you didn’t know what would happen. None of us did.”
You mentally registered the comforting words, but they did little to soothe your aching heart. You looked at Kinger, not bothering to hide your tears anymore.
“Is it true we’re never gonna get out? Ever?”
Kinger paused, expression faltering. He glanced aside. He didn’t want to crush your spirit, but he didn’t want to make a promise he couldn’t keep, either.
“I don’t know,” he said honestly. “I hope that one day, we’ll get out. But I don’t know.”
You bit your wobbly lip. He might as well have told you it was all over. This was your life now, forever stuck in a McDonald’s play-place. You would never grow up. Once, maybe the thought would have excited you, but now it filled you with dread.
You scooted closer and leaned your cheek against his side. His robe felt like velvet. Hesitantly, you put your arms around him. He would’ve hugged you back, but all he had were floating hands to hold you with. He did the best he could, patting your back soothingly as you held onto him. You were getting snot and tears on the side of his robe, but the minor discomfort didn’t concern him.
“It’s okay to cry. I’m right here. You’re okay,” he murmured, pulling you close.
You sniffled in an attempt to keep in the snot trying to run down your face. It was unsuccessful. You blew your nose on Kinger’s coat without much thought.
“…Kinger?” you croaked.
“Yes?”
“How long have you been here?”
“Hah, that’s a good question. I’ve been here a long time, kiddo,” he answered. He gently pet your head as he looked down at you.
“You were a person too?” you asked.
Kinger’s eyelids lifted up like he was smiling.
“Yes. I am a person, just like you are. Just because we look different doesn't mean we’re not people, you know.”
You smiled back, just a little. You wiped wet tear streaks from your cheek with the back of your hand. “Right… um… did you… do you miss people from the real world too?”
“…Yes. Very much.”
“Really? A lot?” you asked, perking up out of curiosity. Kinger was glad to see you interested, at least for the moment.
“Ha, yes, a lot.”
“Then, why do you seem so okay? I don’t get it.”
Kinger hummed thoughtfully. How do you explain something like this to a kid? That you sort of… get used to bad things?
“Well… I’ve been around a long time. I learned how to deal with big feelings, like what you feel right now. They don’t go away, but, I try to keep going despite them,” he decided on.
You furrowed your brows, not very satisfied by his answer. You lifted a hand to bite your nail as you mulled it over. You just had to tough it out? Deal with it? That doesn’t make it easier at all. The idea of being miserable just becoming a part of life was scary and confusing. How could you go on like this? It’s the worst. It’s agony.
Your silence made Kinger worried. He cleared and throat and continued. ““You wanna know something that helps me, when I really miss the people I love?”
You met his eyes and nodded, just a little. He rubbed his hand in circle over your back as he replied.
“I think of my loved ones, and I think of what they would want me to do. They wouldn’t want me to give up, even when I’m feeling terrible. I bet your mom and dad wouldn’t want you to give up, either.”
You frowned and looked away as you thought of your parents. Their absence made you feel hopeless, like you were falling with no one to catch you. You blinked and took notice of Kinger’s hand on your back. Maybe you did have someone, at least a little bit. You scratched your head and returned your focus to your parents- your loving mom and dad. You sniffled. They wouldn’t want you to give up, if they knew what you were going through. You slowly shook your head.
“No, they wouldn’t,” you murmured.
Kinger leaned in just a little closer. He felt relieved you had family on the outside; people you could think of in times like this. Hopefully, it would help keep you sane.
“Right, they’d believe in you, wouldn’t they? Because they love you," he said warmly.
You sniffed again and glanced up at him with a smile. “How do you know that?” you asked.
Kinger sighed, smiling back at you tiredly. He didn’t know, not for certain. But, the thought of them seemed to comfort you, so, he assumed.
“Well, if I had a kid like you, I’d love them,” he ventured softly. “And I’d hope they’d be okay.”
His words hit you harder than you expected. It wasn’t exactly like he’d said he loved you, but, it was about as close as you could get to it without saying it directly. You looked away and hugged him tighter. He hugged you back.
“I don’t know what’s going to happen, kiddo, but… we’ve just got to keep moving forward, even if we’re not sure about it. You’ve been so brave already, I know you can do it.” He returned his hand to your head, giving you a few pats. “You’re not alone. We’re all here for you. You’ll be okay.”
You smiled and closed your eyes. You let out a shuddering breath, allowing yourself to decompress.
“…Thanks,” you said. “Why’d you get so, like… smart?”
You heard Kinger chuckle slightly.
“Uh… being in the dark helps me think,” he replied.
It didn’t make much sense to you, but a lot of things didn’t make sense here. You decided not to question him further. You yawned.
“You wanna sit here a little longer, or are you ready to join the others?” Kinger asked.
“Hmm… a little longer,” you answered.
He took a slow breath in and let it out, leaning back against the wall. He looked over the “spooky” mansion room with idle interest, still holding you close.
“Sure thing, buddy. Take as long as you need.”