Chapter Text
Stanley found the Narrator’s voice exceptionally pleasant. Even at his most bitter and miserable in the parable, he always enjoyed that sound. It became a guilty pleasure, if you will. Now however, there was no guilt. It was something he thoroughly enjoyed.
Even if he heard it less often than he used to.
After sharing a bed for a while, the two of them, on occasion, would talk. Just talk. A little before going to sleep, they would lay next to each other and chat. And Stanley got to hear that wonderful voice. Sometimes going quiet and just letting him talk. On and on and on he would go, weaving a wonderful and confusing web of words. It became a soothing feeling.
So soothing in fact that he began to relax. Closing his eyes, his breathing becoming regular. The words losing their shape as he began to lose consciousness.
And after a few minutes, Stanley was fully asleep
For a few minutes the Narrator didn’t notice. He kept speaking on and on and on, but something felt… off. Technically nothing had changed. He was still talking, and Stanley said nothing, but it felt different.
“Stanley?”
No response. He shook the other man a little and repeated his name. No response. His heart dropped. He had… had he put him to sleep? Was he that boring, that uninteresting to listen to? Were his words truly so worthless that he would- oh no. Oh no, suddenly the Narrator felt the emptiness closing in. God of course this would happen, had he not learned from that review? Had he not learned that his words truly meant so little to the human mind that- of course Stanley would leave. Of course. He had spoken too much, let himself relax too much, forgotten the reason for his isolation. And suddenly his breathing was ragged. He was shaking Stanley desperately, his hands trembling. He could feel himself unraveling, becoming less real by the second. He couldn’t take this, not again, not with this Stanley, he was different! The other Stanley had been a replacement but this was the original, the one he was made for, the one he cared for, the one he loved. He would not have this happen again, not if he could help it!
“Stanley come back to me!” He said, his words too loud, truly too loud, but he had to try. What would his volume matter if Stanley was really gone?
“Stanley? Stanley, please come back!”
The body stirred a little bit.
“Stanley?”
“STANLEY?”
“STANLEY!!”
Stanley jolted awake, his eyes flying open to see the Narrator looking at him. Shoulders shaking, gloved hands upon him, and when the man saw Stanley’s eyes open he let out a shaky breath of relief.
“Oh Stanley! I thought I had- I… oh. So I was right. You did fall asleep.”
There was a sullen tone to the Narrator’s voice. Stanley blinked. He hadn’t realized.
“M’sorry,” Stanley said, still a little groggy.
“Don’t say sorry Stanley! Goodness if I… if I’m talking too much, don’t just let yourself fall asleep! Do something!”
“Mhm…” Stanley wasn’t sure if he was just tired or if that was an odd request, but he wasn’t quite sure what that meant. Do something. Like what? He was too tired though, so he simply nodded. Surely he’d think of something later.
The Narrator let out a little hum. “Well… guess there’s really no point delaying sleep now. Might as well go to bed if you’re falling asleep anyway.”
There was something so flat about his tone. Stanley reached out to him, half expecting him to move away from the touch. On the contrary, he moved into it. Once the lights were off, he clung to Stanley tightly. As if desperately.
Vaguely Stanley thought that he really did need to make sure this didn’t happen again. It took a few days for it to get close to happening though.
No, the Narrator was careful for the next couple of days. Making sure not to talk over Stanley. So Stanley gave him some room. Trying to encourage him back into his monologuing habit. Into letting out that lovely voice more. Thinking he’d be able to handle it if something like that happened again.
Soon enough he got a chance to test that.
It was getting late. It really was. Yet the Narrator was showing no signs of slowing down his speech. Something about it still entranced Stanley, but if he fell too deep into that trance he knew he’d fall asleep again.
It took a few minutes. Stanley debated internally. What should he do?
On an impulse, Stanley sat up a bit, looked at the Narrator, and clamped a hand over his mouth. For a moment the Narrator seemed to try to move away, but Stanley adjusted his grip and pushed against the man’s mouth. He put perhaps a bit more force into it than intended, as it pushed the Narrator’s head back against the headboard with a slight thud. It made Stanley’s mind clear up a bit as he winced internally. He wasn’t sure why he’d approached the situation like this, but now that he had, he might as well go with it.
“Remember when you said to do something if you’re talking too much?” Stanley said, his tired voice coming out a bit lower than usual.
The Narrator nodded.
“I didn’t know what you meant by ‘do something.’ Figured this was something.” Stanley chuckled, his nerves creeping in a bit. He removed his hand. “Sorry. I wasn’t thinking, actually.”
“Well it… worked,” the Narrator replied. His voice was oddly breathy.
“Yeah,” Stanley said. “I’m sure you didn’t like it though.”
Silence.
“...did you?”
“O-Of course not!” The Narrator squawked. “No why would I- I mean it just. It was. Effective. Maybe a bit forceful but I- no, why would I like it Stanley? It’s not as if I like being- I mean I don’t- I-I-”
“Okay, okay!” Stanley waved a hand. “That’s what I thought. Y’know I would’ve just told you to stop talking if you had said that.”
“Well there are ways that are more proactive than just telling me Stanley.”
“Ones that you would like?”
“Y…Yes.”
Stanley raised an eyebrow. “Like what?”
“Like uh-” The Narrator put a hand over his own mouth now. Then he glared at Stanley for a moment before lowering the hand. “I don’t want to say.”
“If you don't, I'm going to do the same thing. You don’t want that, do you?”
No response. A familiar noise of whirring fans came from the Narrator. Stanley found himself grinning. He repositioned himself so he was fully facing the Narrator. One hand went to the headboard, right beside the Narrator’s head.
“Do you?” Stanley asked again. Before the Narrator had a chance to speak however, Stanley’s hand covered his mouth once again. The man found himself practically giggling. Even in a more alert state, Stanley still felt a bit sleep deprived and now it was making him giddy. “Come on… I can’t make the right choice if you don’t tell me the answer, can I?”
There were muffled noises from beneath Stanley’s hand. However the Narrator was not struggling against his grip. His chest rose and fell, bringing his shoulders with it.
“Are you trying to tell me? I can’t hear you dumbass,” Stanley said. Again, another internal wince at the harsh word, but it had just slipped out. And at this point, surely the Narrator knew it was in jest. “You gonna tell me what you want if I let you talk?”
A nod. Stanley hummed and tilted his head from side to side. Then finally, he removed his hand. The Narrator took in a deep gasping breath.
For a moment Stanley felt a twinge of regret. Then the Narrator spoke.
“I… I want… well, if we’re talking about something more pleasant that would prevent me from speaking. You. You could um… kiss me again.”
“Kiss you?” Stanley repeated, suddenly feeling much more awake, ignoring how quietly the Narrator had said it. “Again??”
“Well you did once. Not on the lips though, which, I must say, would be the optimal place if- if your goal was to silence me. Which… obviously it would be, that’s the whole point of it.”
Ah. So he remembered that. And this was how he brought it up again?
Well, he was glad it was being brought up. Who was he to argue how?
Stanley leaned forward. Pausing a moment as he was right in front of the Narrator’s face before pressing his lips against the other man’s. He could practically feel the Narrator melting into it. Letting Stanley’s lips and tongue have free reign.
Truly, it was effective at silencing him. Or, at least, keeping him from speaking. He wasn’t entirely silent. Small noises slipping out from between their lips. One of them, akin to a moan. After a few dozen seconds, Stanley pulled back a little to catch his breath.
“It is-ah- more pleasant,” he said between huffs of air. “Definitely.”
“Y-Yes-” the Narrator got out. “See, I know what I’m talking about!”
“Only thing is that this way I can’t talk either…” Stanley pressed his forehead against where the Narrator’s should’ve been. “And I’m starting to think you really might like both ways. In that case, what would stop me from doing both? Just so I get a chance to talk occasionally.”
“Both?”
“Both!”
Stanley moved to kiss the Narrator again. However their lips were only pressed together for a moment before he pulled away. Stanley’s lips were replaced by his hand. He grinned. His other hand went to the Narrator’s stomach. Amused to remember that the Narrator wore pajamas now. So much easier for Stanley to slip his hand under than the suit he wore during the day.
“Only one hand free though.” Stanley played up a little frown. “Would be nice to have two hands to play with you. Guess there’s still drawbacks to this method.”
Under the fabric, Stanley found something a bit unexpected. Wires running along the surface of the Narrator’s stomach. Curious, Stanley tugged one of them gently, only for the Narrator to let out a muffled whimper. That caused Stanley’s hand to draw back.
“Did that hurt?” Stanley asked. The playful tone in his voice had dropped so quickly, to be replaced with real concern. As if he had only just realized how sudden and forward this was. Because he had.
However the Narrator shook his head. “I must admit it feels odd . N-Not necessarily bad. But… different.”
“Different from what?”
“Hm… most things. ”
Stanley wrapped his finger around one of the wires. “Different like erotic?”
“ Stanley!”
The other hand, the one that had been over the Narrator’s mouth not too long ago, now moved over his chin. One of Stanley’s fingers skimmed over the other man’s lips.
“Don’t you think you should tell me while you can?” Stanley asked softly.
“I-” A small exhale. It could be felt on Stanley’s fingers. Then the Narrator nodded. “You could say that. Honestly it-it’s hard to tell when this whole situation is a bit… well. Like that .”
Erotic. A name to how the Narrator felt about all this. At least right now. Maybe not the word Stanley had been expecting for a while but there it was. It was something. Something he could make use of.
Idly, he played with the wires a bit more. Tugging and turning them in his fingers. Even if they hadn’t elicited pretty little noises from the Narrator, Stanley would’ve still liked something to fidget with while he thought for a moment.
“Does this make you feel… closer?” Stanley finally asked.
“What? The wires?”
“Me touching you like this. Us being like this. Is that the closeness you wanted?” Stanley once again moved his face closer to the Narrator’s. “Do you think you’d want this, even if you couldn’t speak during it? Only feel it.”
After a moment of hesitation, the Narrator’s hands went to Stanley, slid along his sides and to his hips. As if testing it out. Feeling the situation. Stanley moved them even closer together, sliding the Narrator onto his lap. The Narrator cooperated. He leaned into it. Pressed in, his lips now pushing themselves onto Stanley’s. Yet he still came off as so uncertain, as if even this was so foreign.
He really didn’t know what he was doing.
They parted.
“Yes.” It came from the Narrator as barely more than a gasp.
Still, it was audible. It answered Stanley’s question. Gave him a warm feeling inside. From the satisfaction of finally knowing, no doubt.
Surely that was it.
He finally knew. Now he just had to do something about it.