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"WATCH YOUR STEP STANLEY!" Narrator suddenly yells out almost causing him to trip over a rug. He looks up with a frown and throws his arms in the air.
"Come on, Stanley! You could have misstepped! You should be more careful!" The older man scoffed in annoyance but there was a slight underside of anxiousness in his tone. The Narrator folds his arms and uses one of his hands to take off his glasses and rub the bridge of his nose.
Stanley rolls his eyes and continues to walk through the office. His legs dragged across the floor in an irritated manner; he definitely did not enjoy the constant nagging from the Brit. The nagging that has been quite intense for quite a while now... He thought he might fool around a bit and make his companion just a little mad; he started to rummage through the desks.
"No matter how hard Stanley looked, he couldn't find a trace of his co-workers." Narrator spoke up as he watched the employee 427 snoop around the place.
Stanley goes through some drawers at the nearest desk to him, he doesn't find anything that interesting but he continues to play around with a small smirk.
"Stanley went around touching every little thing in the office, but it didn't make a single difference, nor did it advance the story in any way." the other man sighed, slumping down into his chair slightly.
The younger male finds a stack of documents and starts to look through them; boring, boring, boring... Until a slice! A piece of paper cuts his finger; a crimson drop pools at the small wound. He winces softly holding his hand to his chest.
"STANLEY! ARE YOU QUITE ALRIGHT?!" Narrator quickly jolts upright in his chair, almost smacking his face straight into the monitor; his nose bumps into the screen and causes his glasses to practically fall off. His breath hitches and his voice sounds panicked... Nearly as if he was on the verge of a panic attack.
Stanley doesn't look up but puts his finger in his mouth, gently sucking on the blood to ease the pain.
"S-Stanley- a-are- you-?!" he doesn't finish... the older man's eyes are wide, and his voice sounds closer to the microphone which only amplifies its shaking and rather fast, uneven breaths...
Employee 427 groans softly in frustration more so than pain. The younger one's attention is caught when he hears scrambling from the other side. He looks up wondering what is going on.
"H-hold on, Stanley- d-don't-" more scrambling noises continue, a loud crash that almost resembles a person falling off a chair-
The younger man continues glancing up still holding his bleeding finger in his lips. At this point, he is utterly confused by the strange behaviour of his narrator.
A few seconds later a horrified-looking older man in glasses bursts through the door holding a medkit; his chestnut hair with greying strands is ruffled, glasses practically falling off his face as he rushes to him.
"Stanley! Good God, are you alright?!" Narrator franticly looks at the other man and back to the stacks of papers lying on the desk. He is clearly perturbed; his chest rises and falls fast, his hands tremble and he looks like he has seen a ghost.
It's... The first actual time Stanley is looking at the man behind the microphone- he... never frankly put too much thought into the way the other one may look like... Therefore to finally see him face to face is bizarre, to say the least- He appears older than him, for sure; a thing Stanley had expected, judging just by voice alone... But he never thought that The Narrator would have a moustache- Employee 427 blinks a couple of times in disbelief as he stares at the Brit before him.
"S-Stanley-" Honestly at this point, Narrator's form is shaking like a leaf. An oddity for such a collected individual as The Narrator...
The man in question looked at the Brit with a questioning look while sucking on his finger. He takes a closer look at his face for a moment; are- are those freckles? Oh dear god, they look so adorable! Stanley looks into his eyes and pauses; those are so mesmerizing! The deep rich brown has a certain sparkle of golden specks in them... It draws Stanley in for some reason, he leans slightly closer, only to be grabbed by his shoulders with trembling hands.
"Stanley p-please tell me you are alright! Stanley I-" The older gentleman's eyes are wide and filled with tears.
Whoa whoa whoa- is Narrator crying because he got a paper cut? That's a bit of an exaggeration, thought Stanley. He takes the wounded finger out of his lips and points to the paper, his hand doing a snipping motion as if to say "paper. cut." a rather clever way to put it without using words but an effective one. He looks at the shaking Brit before him and his confusion gets replaced with annoyance. Why did the Narrator care that he got hurt? Why was he so obsessed with his safety?! Employee 427 softly pushes the older man by the shoulder. His brows are furrowed as he frowns and throws his arms up in an annoyed manner.
Narrator looks at him sadly and starts to cry; his shoulders slumped, except for irregular jolts that happen in sync with his sobs. "S-Stanley... I... " his knees tremble, and he looks as if he might fall straight before him. He grips the younger man and holds him in a tight embrace.
Stanley gets a little stumped by the action... What the hell is happening here?! He tries to squirm out of the embrace but it only causes Brit's arms to tighten around him. He sighs in defeat and just stands there with his hands at his sides.
"Oh, g-good lord... I- I failed you again... Didn't I, Stanley?" the Narrator says in a shaky voice that breaks as he speaks his name...
Wait hold on... Again? What does he mean again? He met him today, less than an hour ago... He doesn't think he would ever forget meeting someone like him so- what is this about?! Stanley keeps on being quiet just as usual and waits for the older man to continue.
"I am so truly sorry, Stanley... I really am... I am- such a bad narrator for letting you get hurt once more..." he takes a couple of shaky breaths and Employee 427 feels his body trembling.
A sudden thought appears in the younger man's mind... He- he smells nice- Like... Old printed paper and tea with a hint of lemon... It's soothing, pleasant and oddly familiar; as if he smelled it before... He shakes his head to dismiss the thought but it still doesn't help with understanding what the other meant by saying 'again'! He doesn't remember being hurt...
The Brit pulls away softly and looks him in the eyes with that teary gaze... "I... Never meant for this to happen... I-" he stops and sniffles. "I just... I can't let this happen again... I can't let you die..."
Stanley is so confused but he feels a certain need in his heart... A feeling that makes him want to comfort the older gentleman. He doesn't know why, he doesn't know him... Employee 427 sighs and reaches up stroking Narrator's cheek softly- why- why does it feel so... Natural to do that...?
"Y-you remember it... R-right, Stanley?" the older man asked with a trembling voice. "W-why I am so overprotective?" he asks hopefully.
Stanley looks at him sympathetically but shakes his head 'no'. His hands gently stroke his cheeks... Again- this feeling as if he done it before, many times... It fills him with a sense of Déjà vu...
Narrator slumps slightly looking defeated... He sighs and looks away. "It's because- I love you Stanley... I truly do..." he whispers gazing into his eyes.
Employee 427 freezes- He- loves him? No no no, this can't be right-... Can it? He surely can't! I mean, the two of them barely know each other! Before he can fully react to the words he feels a pair of lips on his own. Stanley's eyes widen and he gasps from the suddenness of Narrator's action- but he abruptly has a sensation... As if walking out of a foggy field... His mind clears, he closes his eyes and leans into the kiss; he grabs the other man by his face to hold him closer. Stanley remembers... That's why the Brit felt so familiar... Because he is not just some Narrator... He is Stanley's Narrator...
As both pull away, their eyes meet in a loving gaze. The two of them hug and press their foreheads together in a soft carrying manner.
"You are back... Stanley..." the older gentleman looks at his companion with a relieved sigh.
Stanley holds Narrator's face and nods...
He is back... His Stanley is back...