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It was quiet after both Mikaeli and Samantha left the game show. It was just Sasha.
Oh, poor Sasha. It wasn't enough that he was stuck in this place after agreeing to test Veil's new product for roughly 50 thousand. He was in a tough position with his mother falling ill...
But he missed Joe. Especially Joe. They've been living together for a long while and he was there everytime he needed him, just like how he was there when Joe needed him.
Yet he was now alone... Alone in a simulation. Who knows what happened to his body in the real world. Who knows what Joe is doing now...
Sasha walked around the game show stage, absentmindedly, with his hands in the pockets of his suit. He could just make a small musical number to entertain his mind... But that would never fill the hole in his chest.
Turning around to walk back in the opposite direction, a new person appeared just as he did so.
"What... Who-.. Who is that?" Sasha approached the new appearance, albeit hesitantly. What if Sam returned? He certainly didn't want to be stuck with her again..
"Sa-sasha?" The new person spoke, sounding oddly familiar to Sasha
"Joe?"
"Sasha!"
The new person, who Sasha recognized as Joe, rushed over to Sasha, wrapping his arms around his partner.
"Joe! Is that-? Is that really you!?"
Sasha was overjoyed. He thought Joe had finally ceased to exist after that guard suddenly changed directions and came walking right in Joe's direction while trying to get him to his vault
"Yes, Sasha! It's me! I finally found you!"
Joe, as overjoyed as Sasha that he finally found his partner again, let go of the other man before grabbing the sides of his face and pulling him into a kiss. One of pure relief.
Even in this simulation, the sensation still felt so humanly real
The singers and crowd in the background all let out a soft, harmonious "awh" as they watched the two get reunited. Even if they were NPC or just other people stuck in the simulation, but with less freedom than them, they could still recognize the warmth from returning to a familiar face, or a familiar fac returning to you, in Sasha's case.
Sasha pulled Joe back for a moment, keeping his hands on his arms and Joe keeping his on his boyfriend's shoulders.
"How... How did you even get here?" Asked Sasha. He was utterly bewildered and confused, unable to even theorize or guess how this could've happened.
"I..- I can across your terminal! But, it was... It was too late..." Joe broke the news to him. "There was no way to bring you back... Your body was nowhere to be seen..it was gone.."
"And so... You decided to...?"
"Mhm."
Joe didn't need Sasha to finish his sentence, and he didn't need to explain either. They both understood what Joe he done. Realizing he couldn't save his partner, he decided to join him in the simulation.
Overwhelmed with both joy and sadness, Sasha pulled Joe back in his embrace, squeezing him tight to make sure this time they wouldn't get separated every again. Joe did the same, wrapping his own arms around Sasha's torso, yet holding him a bit more gentler.
If they couldn't be together forever in the real world... Then they will be together forever in this digital realm.
This game show, once a hell of Mikaeli and a prison for Sasha, was now getting warmer, more friendlier with Joe by his side again.
Sitting on the edge of the stage, Joe and Sasha, with their hands intertwined in a gentle hold, shared a few words with Joe having more questions than Sasha could answer.
"What is this place?"
"A simulation."
"No, like— what's this place supposed to be?"
"Oh... A game show. Like those family game shows."
"How.. Long have you been here?"
"I don't know. Time lost all meaning in here."
"Who are they?" Joe pointed at the chorus and band while asking this.
"That's the band and chorus. Occasionally, there would be a musical number."
"Can you... Make them sing?"
"Yes."
"Ah... Well... Were you alone?"
"At first... Then someone else joined.."
This back and forth took briefly an hour tops, but it's not like they've never talked for this long before, and it was also reasonable given the fact that they haven't seen each other in years.
Eventually, Joe's questions ran dry and they sat in silence. A comforting, welcomed silence. Sasha, sensing that his partner was still quite shaken up by everything, reached out and gave him a lingering kiss on the cheek.
"It's alright now. As long as we're together, everything will be fine, even in here."
Joe looked at him with tears in his eyes before resting his forehead on Sasha's shoulder.
"I-... I-I missed you... So much..."
"I missed you too..."
"I... I love you..Sasha..."
"..."
"I love you too, Joe."