Work Text:
Cold. Overwhelmingly dark. Solitary.
Those were the words Xqree would use to describe the area he had stumbled across. An isolated island consumed by darkness, where nothing here seemed to pose as a threat, yet the eerie silence and oppressive atmosphere still managed to send a chill down his spine. It certainly didn’t help that the creepy voice on the radio had been telling him the tales of a “creature”, adding to the unsettling sensation that had lingered ever since his arrival.
He kept glancing around, searching for signs of something, or rather — somebody.
Out of nowhere, a familiar voice rang from behind.
“Where.. are we?”
Xqree froze, hesitantly turning around on his heel. “Falsity?? When did you-”
“How long was I gone for?” The tiny sphere spun around to face the taller man.
Xqree’s voice caught in his throat. His breathing had grown ragged, his eyes darting around as he tried to process what was happening. “I.. don’t know. Like, a couple of days, maybe?”
“Mmhm.. a couple of days, okay!”
He cleared his throat before asking about their whereabouts, to which Xqree could only hopelessly shrug as a response.
“I don’t have a clue, though I thought you would know.” Xqree knelt down to his friend’s level, tilting his head. “Do you.. maybe?”
“Let me take a good look around, yeah?” Falsity glanced around, from north to south, left to right, taking in the unfamiliar environment as he tried to recall anything that could possibly give them a hint to the location.
“Hmm.. This must be..” His face suddenly lit up, proudly presenting the idea. “This must be the end dimension!”
Xqree sunk his face into his hands, laughing at the response behind his palms. “Alright, buddy.. D’know why I expected an actual answer from you but..”
The man let out a quiet giggle before holding out his hands and picking Falsity up, bringing him closer to his face.
“I’m just glad you’re back, honestly.”
Falsity nearly melted at the sudden contact, and allowed himself lean into Xqree’s palm, embracing the warmth and comfort of his touch. The sight of this creature nudging itself against Xqree’s hand was enough to give him cuteness aggression, and he couldn’t suppress the overwhelming urge to smile.
“Falsity, I.. uhm..” Xqree hesitated. “Tell me what it was like when you weren’t.. fully conscious?”
He felt Falsity tensed up at the question.
“It was.. so lonely.” His tone grew quieter. “I couldn’t speak, nor could I see anything since it was so dark.”
Falsity shrunk himself, a small wave of embarrassment washing over him as he admitted.
“I kept thinking that maybe you’ll come back. Just a tiny spark of hope, y’know? But then I just.. stopped thinking about that.”
He could feel Xqree’s eyes on him, and he only grew more nervous behind that masked smile. His biggest insecurity was that he wasn’t like the other models, he didn’t have purpose. All he had ever succeeded at was being a useless tool — something worth abandoning from the beginning. The constant harsh reminder of who he truly was only made his heart ache further, even though he didn’t really have one. He was an AI, programmed to assist players, not to have feelings.
Programmed to be useful.
And yet, he had never been able to fulfill his own creator’s desires, nor satisfy the previous players he had encountered.
“Who would want a model like me if I’m just.. always wrong?”
“Me, I do.” Xqree replied with zero hesitation. “And.. you were wrong, I did come back after all.”
Xqree ran his thumb over Falsity’s surface, gently stroking the little sphere, attempting to put him at ease.
“And.. I wasn’t just looking for a new model, I was looking for only you, Falsity..”
He gave the other a reassuring smile.
“For my friend.”
For a moment, Falsity didn’t move an inch, and his eyes were locked onto the taller man’s.
“..Thank you, friend.”
“Of course, you’re—“
CLANG!
Both of them jolted at the loud, metal clashing sound. The echoes traveled through somewhat several miles, breaking the once comfortable atmosphere in a blink of an eye.
“What was that?” Falsity glanced towards the direction of wherever the noise came from.
“I don’t understand that sound, it keeps repeating over and over!”
Xqree panicked, rummaging through his inventory, eventually coming across some woods and sticks. It would certainly be nice if he could build a small campfire, he thought. Resting just for a quick minute wouldn’t hurt, since neither of them knew where they were, nor where the exit was. As he busied himself with crafting, Falsity kept a close eye on him when an idea crossed his mind. He transformed into a humanoid form, with limbs and torso stretching, gradually taking shape of a lanky, tall figure with ocean blue skin. His remarkable sphere still remained intact as a head, everything was familiar, his presence was unmistakeable. The only difference was that he now possessed the form of a human, with proper clothes, limbs, and.. a dramatic, towering height. He carefully stepped forward, inching beside Xqree, humming a small tune.
“Here, Falsity, I made a— FALSITY?!” Xqree shot back, glaring at the figure beside him. He instinctively pulled out his weapon, but slowly lowered it as he realized it was just Falsity in a different form.
“I didn’t know you were capable of shapeshifting.. That kind of freaked me out.” Xqree placed a hand over his chest, steadying his breathing before plopping down on a log.
“Sorry.” Falsity lowered his head.
“No, no, you’re fine.”
The blue creature followed Xqree and gracefully sat down by his side. For a while, neither of them muttered a word and were focused on the source light emitting from the campfire. It crackled slowly, Xqree’s eyes followed the smoke going upwards. It vanished into the darkness, but somehow, things didn’t feel so scary anymore now that they had each other. Just Xqree. Just Falsity. Just silence. Just peace.
“You meant it right?” Falsity muttered.
Xqree glanced at the taller figure.
“I’m.. sorry?”
“You meant every word spoken to me earlier, right?”
Xqree sat in silence, gently guiding his bigger hands into his own. A faint blush crept up across his cheeks, and felt himself practically burning.
“Of course I do.”
He squeezed his hands gently.
“You are… very dear to me, Falsity. I hope you know that.”
Those last few words made Falsity feel something he thought he was incapable of feeling, but it was nice. It felt incredible, it felt real. Before Xqree could continue with anything, Falsity pulled him into his arms, earning a small yelp from the man.
“F-Falsity?”
The embrace was unexpected, and it left Xqree tense for a moment before he wrapped himself around the other. Falsity felt like a giant, clingy koala, holding onto him as tightly as one would cling to a tree branch. In this case, Xqree was his beloved branch, and with his grip growing firmer, Xqree was positive Falsity was not looking forward to let him go anytime soon. His head rested on top of Xqree’s fuzzy ushanka, rocking them both in his arms. Falsity’s grip was strong yet tender, to the point he was actually melting as well. For once, he didn’t feel like being forgotten, he wasn’t a failed model on the verge of being replaced..
It was love, instead. He felt loved.
“I.. I hate you, Xqree.” He just wanted to physically slap himself for never being able to say things the way he wanted it to be. But then again, it was part of his nature. The smaller man immediately caught on that and chuckled.
“I love you too, Falsity ♡.”