Work Text:
Knock! Knock!
...
Knock! Knock!
...
"Player? Are you there?" Postman knocks the door a little more softer. He sounds a little worried, usually you would have open the door with the first two knocks...
Some footsteps can be heard from the other side of the door, along with some sobs. What's happening inside? Is the Player okay? Were they crying? Is because of-
"hey..." You murmur, hoping that he could listen to you even when the door still closed.
"Hey, uh, are you okay? Do you... wanna talk?" Postman knows this may be against his code, but wasn't he created for you? to keep you company? to make you less alone?
"I-I... A-alright... I'm sorry if-if there's any mess..." Your cracked and hoarse voice makes Postman feel bad but that thought didn't last long when you suddenly open the door.
Oh god...
What could have happened to make you look this down?
The messy hair, the dried tears on your face... Oh gosh you look like a totally mess! But that didn't stop Postman to step inside your cozy house.
The first thing he noticed about you (besides the dried tears on your face) is that you're shaking and that you didn't wanted to deal with putting your thigh high socks at the same length, that's says something is wrong because you said that you hate when your socks are at a different length. Or at least that's what he thinks.
"Wh-why are you staring at me like that..." Postman perks up and looks away quickly, he didn't mean to stare too long. "S-sorry! I didn't mean to! I promise!"
You look at him while wiping away some tears that are still wet and walking towards the messy bed, hiding inside the warm blanket, not caring if the postman it's still here. He follows you and sits in a corner of the bed, putting a hand in your back.
"Can we talk now? You really look like a... uh, mess. No offense." He laughs a little trying to light up the mood a little.
"... It's- ugh.. I think I m-messed up..." You say between little sobs.
"Messed up what?"
"I told h-him that I-I... " You can feel your throat tighten again and your vision getting blurry. "Hey, buddy... How about I stay here with you and you tell me everything later?"
You peek your head from the blanket to look at him, processing his words, and then crawling towards him to hug his torso. The hand in your back begins to gently run up and down in a comforting way.
"Everything is going to be okay..."
You gently squeeze his arm as if you're trying to tell him something "Do you want me to... lie down with you?"
The question catches you off guard, but you end up nodding while looking away in embarrassment. How did he understand what were you trying to say?
"I've learn your way of communication, hehe." Postman says as he takes off his bag and gestures you to make some room for him. After settle down with you, it's... A little awkward... It seems like it's his first time lying a bed with someone else.
...
"Do you think I'm a bad person...?" You suddenly ask, only to regretted it the second you finished the question, burying your face in his chest and almost sobbing. "You? A bad person? Of course not! Wh- ahem- Why the question?"
"I c-can't-” Sobing as you close your eyes and sighing, you climb on top of him and slowly drifting to sleep. Postman, after a while, understands what were you trying to say, you really are little complicated when it comes to communicating verbally.
While you sleep, Postman begins to wonder various things about his NPC life that are normal to the Player. Things like. Can he eat? Can he sleep just like them?
He feels jealous of them, he wishes to do the same things like them but he can't.
How cruel you must be to make an NPC conscious of itself?
He closes his eyes, trying to replicate the Player and try to sleep. He finds himself unable to do so, is sleeping even in his code?
How do you sleep? How can you sleep when you have these type of thoughts?
Postman looks down and watches you sleep on his chest, calming him down a little. You looked so peaceful sleeping, so blissfully unaware of what's happening outside your mind.
He sighs contentedly and closes his eyes, he isn't even thinking of anything now, he's just... Feeling your presence and weight on top of him.
After a while, he opens his eyes and...
OH GOD!!
"wakey wakey..." You say while sitting in his waist, your hands in his shoulders gently shaking him to wake him up, "I didn't know you could sleep..."
"Did I...?"
"you sleep like a baby."
Postman quickly sits up in the bed causing you to almost fall if he didn't hold you in time. His face is burning in embarrassment, "I-I, uh... Ahem!- Hey did y-you sleep well?"
"i think i did... But i, uh, dreamed of... him... though..."
"Who?- Wait- Now that you're calm, can we talk about this 'he' that you've mentioned?" Postman asks, cleary curious about who are you talking about. You've never told him anything about someone else, it's not like you visit his home (well, game) often.
"Oh... Yeah uh... He is-" you pause a little "was a very close friend but I, uhm, fell in love with him and heh..." You chuckle nervously, just remembering everything makes you nauseous, "Another friend told me that he doesn't feel the same... Right after I confessed my feelings to him... kinda sad..."
"You should've expect that, right?" You look up at him with a expression that says 'yeah, you're right',
"Yeah but I thought we liked each other... Even when my friend asked him, he didn't stop me from calling him pet names like 'my love' or 'dear'. Guess this are the consequences of being patient and not wanting to rush anything or sumthing..."
"When did all of that happen? A few days, maybe?" You really are venting to an NPC and not with another player... Sighhh
"Uhm, seven months ago..." You look away from him, cleary embarrassed that you're still crying so bad from something that happened seven months ago, why are you so dramatic?
"Hey, hey... it's okay to cry buddy. Don't be ashamed of that. Heartbreaks can last longer and be really painful when you are madly in love... I guess?"
Postman doesn't even have someone else but you, he doesn't really know anything about love, he wasn't programmed for that. But you showed him things that his creator didn't, teached him about things he wanted to know about what is a human life. But he still doesn't understand too much to comfort you in a situation like this.
"Hey, it's okay Jamie..." You giggle as you sit on the corner of the bed, that name just came out of nowhere, "Jamie? Is that the nickname you gave me?" Postman asks, curious to know what the fuck does that even mean.
You laugh a little and nod, "I thought i could give you a name instead of calling you 'The Postman', i don't know, it's kinda weird..." You say as you fall in the bed again, cleary lazy and sad to even go outside or do something instead of spending the whole year in bed.
"Well, look I-I appreciate the nickname but I think it's the better for you to call me Postman. I am not a human, Player. I'm just a scripted NPC."
"I know but-"
"No 'but's now, you discovered this game when you were sad and wanted to be friends with other players. You actually thought this game was a hangout for players to meet each other. But you already know this isn't just a nostalgic hangout game."
"..." He's right. Gosh what were you thinking about venting all this stuff to him? Venting to AI is the worst thing to do in this type of situations because they can't really help you, they can show you were to go and what number to call to receive help but it itself can't do anything. Escapism is not the answer to this type of things, and is not the answer for anything.
Jamie is still a cute name for him. You think to yourself.
"It was really nice to talk with you, Postman... I hope to see you again someday." You are really tired now, even when you haven't done absolutely anything. You just want to sleep and dream again.
"You sure you're gonna be fine?" For an NPC, he really worries about the players, maybe it's because he was made for that.
"Yes, don't worry. I just... want to sleep again." You say as you grab the blanket to cover yourself entirely once again. You close you eyes and the last thing you hear before drifting to sleep are some footsteps, the door opening and a-
"Good night, Player..."