Chapter Text
How did it end like this? It started off so well. They were celebrating the holidays in the tent, Caine had finally gotten the hang of human feelings and started listening to their needs and wants. The world was growing, the digital world they wanted to desperately leave once was now growing into a beautiful wonderland. To the point where they almost never wanted to leave. Key word, almost.
Now here they are, the holidays are back but here they are. Inside what she assumed to be an ice cave because of the cold gust of wind hitting her. Accompanied by the icey feel beneath her feet. Who knows how long she was in here for, but one thing was a fact. She was in unspeakable pain. She had done what she swore she would never do. Fall into a spiral of her own thoughts. She had ventured off into a forest in her head all by herself. She had no choice but to do so. She had to escape this cruel world as fast as she could. And the deeper she went into this forest of thoughts, the darker and thicker it became. So dark that it blocked her vision and so thick she got lost. There was no way out now. She was stuck in her own thoughts.
Her vision through her one eye was blurry with multiple colours flashing before her. She couldn't see anything but strikes of purple and green. The more seconds she spent looking at them, the deeper she could feel herself fall into a panic. It was too much for the doll. She had to shut her eye tight to prevent herself from falling deeper in thought. She had to preserve the last ounce of humanity she still had in her. She couldn't give up now, she had to fight it to keep it from taking over her mind.
As she tried to fight this, she felt a hand pull her in tighter. A hand that belonged to someone who was in the same predicament as her. God he must be in so much pain as well. The grip on her back tightens within every second proving her thought to be true. He was clutching onto her in agony just like she was gripping onto his hand in pain. Was he also losing his vision like she was? Was he further in than she? Was he gonna go first and leave her? She didn't know what was worse, him leaving her alone first, or her leaving him to deal with the heartbreak of a loss first. She was already heartbroken after seeing the others go insane. She didn't want more pain to be added and see him go too. But she also didn't want to leave him alone heartbroken either.
No, stop that! She can't go further into that dark forest in her mind. She had to get out, now. And find a way to bring back all of her friends. The more she tried to calm down, the tighter her grip on his hand became. She felt a sudden shot of pain across her back, causing her to yelp and jolt her head into his neck. The bunny must've taken notice for she felt both his hands slide to her upper back. Gently rubbing where she felt the pain.
That's when she realised, she must've been further into her abstraction than he was. He was more aware and seemed more composed than her. No, no, no, she couldn't just leave him alone to face this cold digital world that used to be a wonderland. Just the thought drowned her in sorrow. She wrapped her arms around his waist, pulling him impossibly close so he knew she didn't want to leave him. She had to be strong, she had to come back for him. She felt a string of cold liquid stream down her cheek. Huh, she didn't even know that was possible here. But here she was, letting more out of her eye and even the button eye. She buried her face into the crook of his neck in both pain and sorrow. She nuzzled and burrowed into it until her face was no longer visible to anyone that may be watching.
She needed his familiar touch so badly. And she can tell he needed hers at this moment. The pressure on her back increased as she felt one hand slowly press against the back of her head. Pushing her to face up a bit and feel him rest his head against hers. She felt his fingers gently tangle themselves in her hair, careful to not cause anymore pain. She felt a great pressure leave her chest when he did. He was still here with her, holding her tight and refusing to release her from his embrace.
Her breathing became a bit steady when his other hand rubbed her back before making its way to her arm. Slowly sliding to where one of her hands had a death grip on his back. He gently got her to release him and twine her fingers with his.
This was nice, she thought. She slowly let herself relax enough to feel herself sink into his touch. Before she knew it, she released her other hand from his back before softly placing it onto the back of his shoulder. Finally feeling a bit more relaxed, she felt her head slide down from his neck until it rested on his chest. She loved the feeling of his hand lightly tugging at her yarned hair. This felt more than right, this felt tender, delicate, it was perfect.
Her heart sank when she felt him suddenly let go of her hair and started to get up.
“Wait…..” her voice was as broken as the rest of her partially abstract body. She gripped onto his hand as if it was the last thing she'll ever hold.
“Just one last dance.” She heard him mumble with a glitch in his tone. Barely letting his words come out auditable.
He hated the sound of his voice right now. It wasn't charming or even soothing enough for her ears. At least, not to him. She seemed to relax again when she heard him. He can't blame her for being so scared. The dark glitchy texture had taken over half her body. Covering the side where her one good eye was. She probably couldn't see a thing, and even if she could, it was probably a mess. Like his vision. He could already feel it crawling over half his face, luckily he still could see with the other half.
He lightly rubbed his thumb over the back of her hand to assure her he was still there. He watched as her shoulders relaxed at his touch. She must've been so scared, not being able to see. Maybe that was a good thing, she didn't need to see the millions of eye's that were on them right now. He carefully pulled her up to her feet and wrapped an arm over her shoulder, one hand still in hers.
He guided her across the floor that used to be the grounds. Destroyed, cold, dark, with not even the moon or sun to illuminate them. His only source of light were the glitching eyes that watched as he took his doll into the tent. He did not need an audience to witness their misery.
Once inside the tent, he pulled her closer, letting rest her tired head on his chest. Her hands were trembling from fear, in fact her mind seemed to be clouded with fear. She couldn't seem to figure out what to do next. Knowing she was lost, he held onto both her hands and placed them near her head. Letting them rest on him as if he was a pillow. This seemed to do the trick as her body was no longer tense. He watched as worry seemed to melt away from her body. She gave a light nuzzle as he wrapped both arms around her waist. Locking them together so she didn't go anywhere without him. Not even if she fully abstracted. The only place she was going was where he was going.
There was no sound in the air. Not a tweet from the artificial birds or a tune from nowhere like the theme song the god like deity would put on. Man, he never thought he would miss that chaotic horror show. With silence in the air, he gently swayed side to side. He didn't want to go too fast and risk her falling on her face. That might trigger the horrible glitch to spread faster. As time went on, they slowly found themselves swaying to music that only they could hear.
She felt her candy heart calm itself and her mind seemed to clear up. All her focus melted into the moment, feeling her feet take small steps behind his. She wrapped her arms around his neck like a ribbon to a gift. She felt his head inch closer to hers resulting in some warmth in her cheeks. She caught her breath when she felt a small kiss plant itself on her forehead before his head rested on hers.
The moment was tender, delicate, perfect. She felt a flutter in her chest as he led the way across the dance floor. It was nice to be the one with no control for once. Everyday she was the one everyone looked to for help. She was the one with motherly advice that would help everyone get through the day without an abstraction. She had to maintain control of herself and others emotions. But it was moments like this when she didn't mind having someone else take control. She was allowed to let it all out with no worries for anyone being disturbed.
He didn't mind this either. He is always going with the flow and didn't care much for control. Except when it was for his own joy. He sees an opportunity and makes sure to make it go his way to please himself. And moments like this is when he was more than happy to take control. As long as it meant he could see her rest and in peace. And boy did he want that more than anything right now. Her face seems peaceful, or at least what half that wasn't abstracted. He didn't mind, he looked no better anyways. And there was never a day when she didn't look her best.
The two continued their gentle dance with no signs of stopping for a break. It was like they were completely alone in this world, no one here or there to interrupt the delicate moment. Just him happily guiding her, holding her and softly kissing her hair. She was all his to enjoy. A sweet gental doll safely wrapped in his arms. The same lovely rag dolly who was wishing his worries away.
The more time they spent in each other's arms, the more it felt like the pain was easing. He could've swore he saw the black substance shrink back from her face. He gave a soft smile at this. And he could tell she had a smile as well with just the light nuzzle she gave under his chin. The inky black and horrible glitching texture slowly faded back to the red, softer texture he loved so much. He couldn't help it, he burrowed his face into her rosy hair that he thought he wouldn't feel again. Soft, warm, and comforting, all for him to enjoy. He felt her hand slide its way up his neck, making sure the rough glitch wasn't there anymore. The single soft hand travelled up to the base of his ears, petting them gently, almost as if she was smoothing them out. Luckily, he didn't feel any rough edges of glitching where her touch was. Just warmth and love. With her simple touch, he felt his teeth start to chatter, creating a purr into her hair.
Hmm, maybe this wasn't gonna end horribly after all.
CRASH
A sudden loud noise echoed across the tent. This had undone so much he was desperately trying to do. Because the last thing he felt was the woman in his arms running off in fright, as a surge of anger filled him to the brim.