Chapter Text
“What should we do?” The entity’s voice cut through the silence, evidently bored. The two creatures were in the living room; ReGect sitting on the couch, manspreading, watching as the human heated up his drink. They hadn’t done anything yet that day, which bored the entity. It also wasn’t any better that their clown friend, Moe, left on her own adventure for the day, leaving the other two to mope around.
Z sighed, busying his hands with the microwave. He shut the door of the machine, listening to the beeps, before turning to his roommate. “I don’t fucking know? You usually have some stupid ass adventure you rope me into,” he grimaced at the flashbacks. ReGect, though missing a head and a few limbs, seemingly rolled his eyes.
“They’re not stupid, you just have zero taste!” ReGect scoffed at the barely taller man, leaning back to the couch. Z turned to the entity, glaring at him, before looking back at the microwave. He tapped his foot absently, muttering a soft ‘whatever’. He ignored ReGect’s insistent complaints and whines, thinking a bit, before a decent enough idea popped into his head.
“Hey, let’s go to–”
“Dude, if you fucking suggest Walmart, I’m gonna punch you.” Z flinched, shocked at how predictable his plans were.
“I–dude, how’d you know?!” ReGect let out an over-dramatic sigh, shifting his position on the couch for a bit, feeling the cold confusion from Z.
“You always do this, man! Every time we don’t have anything to do, you take us to some stupid grocery store for chores!” Z groaned at the other’s words, placing a hip onto his waist.
“That’s because you don’t help out around the house!” With that, ReGect flared up in a mix of annoyance and anger, sensing the same from Z.
“I built the house, Zee! That isn’t enough for you?!” He hissed, and Z waves his hand dismissively.
“Quit whining, man.” A long series of beeps rang out through the atmosphere, silencing ReGect and turning Z’s attention away from it. Z opened the door, took out his hot chocolate, and shut it once again. The player stared at the drink in his inventory for a few moments, before turning to the entity with a grin.
“We’re going to fucking Walmart. Come on.” At that, ReGect inhaled deeply.
“UUUUUUUUUGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHH—“
“Here we are!” Z exclaims, almost gleefully, as they walk onto the parking lot. It’s a vast plane of just concrete and empty parking spots, the clouds covering the sun. ReGect grumbles behind the human, the golden broken leg iron gently clicking with the entity’s footsteps.
“Dude, can you stop being so whiny? My ears hurt.”
“I’m not whiny!” ReGect threw his arms to the sky, exasperated, the gold chain around its neck tinkling with movement. Z chuckled lightly at the dramatic movement.
“Yea, sure, whatever helps you sleep at night.” The atmosphere around them gets louder as they near the front entrance of the market chain, when a large forming crowd catches ReGect’s eyes.
“Zee, Zee look,” he almost grabs the protagonist’s arm. “What’s that over there?” Z glances at where ReGect is pointing, with much disdain.
“Probably some weird ass scam. Now come on, we need eggs!” With a growl, Z continues walking, footsteps audible from the concrete, but he realizes there isn’t enough stomping or metallic clinking. He looks back to see ReGect completely transfixed onto the crowd of people.
“Let’s go check it out.” Z lets out a frustrated breath.
“No. No, we’re not going there.”
“B-but-“ ReGect whines, staring intently at Z while pointing towards the growing crowd of humans. Like a child, Z notes with a particularly frustrated sigh.
“We got shit to do—“
“Dude, we come here every week. We didn’t even eat the eggs yesterday, we’re fine!” ReGect screamed at the pale man. Z almost snapped back, when his brain really registered its words. That’s… actually a good argument, Z thought with vexation. He looked between the store entrance and the concentrated human population a few times, before exhaling angrily.
“Fine. Will that shut you up?” ReGect immediately lit up, letting out a gleeful chuckle.
“I knew you can’t resist my—“
“Say anything more and we can just go home.”
“Yes sir.”
They gingerly walked up to the crowd, ReGect atiptoe to see over the waves of heads. There’s a single ginger man in front of the crowd, right behind an overly-decorated rainbow table. They could barely make out flyers of promised free vacations, paperwork and contracts shoved to a corner of the desk. The man in question was wearing a nicely-fit, colorful suit that demanded your attention, and a few rings on his gloved hands. In short; a very clear scam to Z.
“HELLO HELLO!” A cheery, over-the-top voice rang out loudly through the Walmart parking lot. “HOW ARE YOU FINE LADIES AND GENTLEMAN ON THIS WONDERFUL EVENING?” The two characters glanced at each other.
“I can smell his fake-ness,” ReGect muttered, earning a snort from the pale man. ReGect almost puffs up in pride at the sound, warmth radiating off of Z that ReGect basked in.
“It’s almost impressive how sweet he sounds,” Z whispered back, making ReGect roll their nonexistent eyes. They turn back to the center-stage, halfheartedly observing the strange man.
“He makes chocolate seem bitter.” ReGect growls, and Z holds in a genuine laugh.
“God, he’s so stupid, with his red hair.” He snickered softly against his fist. ReGect glanced at the pale man, and racks up the 2 brain cells in its head to ask the following question.
“Isn’t Moe a red-head?” Z pauses, blinks, then looks up at it.
“Er… yeah, I guess, but she’s different than other gingers.” He admitted, albeit a bit nonchalantly, causing ReGect to bite back a cackle.
“Zee, that’s like, racist as hell.”
“Why—now how is that—“
“How abo-ut…” the pair snapped their heads up, realizing they missed most of what the weird (likely) conman was yapping about. They stare, trying to assess the situation from what little they know. The host-man looks around dramatically, a hand over his eyes like a cartoon.
“YOU!” His voice rings out much louder than before, causing Z to cover his ears before even registering what happened. Quickly, over a dozen heads turned sharply at them, and Z could swear they looked like those cave dwellers he fought.
“Come on up, our LUCKY contestants!” The collar around ReGect’s neck swishes as it looks around, confused. They glanced at the ginger again before pointing at itself. The conman lets out a soft chuckle, before nodding and gesturing to come closer to the main event—whatever it was.
“Of course! And your dear boyfriend too, we don’t discriminate here!” Z burns up from the host’s words, and even ReGect feels hotter than usual. It could sense Z’s temperature heighten in embarrassment, trying not to look at him. A few ‘awhs’ and ‘ooohs’ ring through the large crowd.
“H-he’s not my boyfriend!” Z screamed into the microphone of his computer quickly, breathing heavy. He can’t tell what’s louder; his heart pounding or the thoughts rushing through his mind. An entity like him?! He grits his teeth, hating at how fast his heart rate seems to spike up at the thought. He hates ReGect—despises, even—so why does the image leave him fighting off more of it?
ReGect nods, albeit a tad distracted. “We never agree, but we’re agreeing on this. We are notdating and we absolutely, 100% hate each other!” The antagonist can feel something bubbling up within his chest, much stronger than when he’s usually with Z. It tries to push it down, with no success. The redhead—however—sighs, breaking character with basically zero pressure.
“Just come up here.” The pair steps away from each other, not being able to move forward. Z masks with disgust on his face, arms crossed, while ReGect just stands still, unsure on what to do. After a few beats, the likely-conman at the front becomes impatient. He taps his foot, looking between the two chosen characters with a barely-hidden scowl.
“I… yeah, I’m not doing this.” Z mutters. He turns to leave, but before ReGect can follow him, a snap rings out from the front of the crowd.
Immediately, Z screams–in real life. White and black boxes, swirls, triangles, random colors flash across his computer screen in rapid motion. He closed his eyes quick, hands covering them just in case, his screen beeping loudly. What the fuck?He could even swear he felt a headache coming in, a dull throbbing like the incessant ones he gets during class. Z was freaked out, acting on pure instinct, wondering if he was in hell—or back in it.
He’d seen a lot in the world; everything ranging from wizards to pirates to cave dwellers, colossal chickens, and even talking couches. But nothing like this. Nothing that showed this flashing imagery, nothing that physically harmed his life–purposefully or not.
And just as quickly as it began, the beeping stopped. Z paused, thinking for a moment, before ultimately deciding to take a gamble, slowly opening his eyes. His screen is back to normal, showing the strangely populated Walmart parking lot. Now though, his avatar is right next to the host, with ReGect stretching right next to him. Z lets out a shuddering breath, his hands slowly falling to his lap.
“Zee?” He could hear ReGect’s avatar worriedly ask through the thin computer screen. Z let out a few gasps and coughs, almost scared shitless. He didn’t know if he should keep playing—whether he wanted to admit it or not, it was fun—but he didn’t want to seize up during a game, especially not when he’s alone. Z thinks for a minute, but really doesn’t need any thinking; weirdly, he feels like he’s really there, part of the world, and he hates breaking that illusion.
“Yeah, yeah?” He calls out, his voice cracking from the scare. Instead, Z shakes it off. No use. It’s always like this. The player is… a bit mad, to be honest, his world always seemingly out of wack from normal. But it became his new normal, in a way. A normal that allowed for him to be so much more than what he is in the flesh.
ReGect shakes off the tingling effects of the teleportation, becoming a bit worried when he hears Z’s soft sobs through the mic, suddenly hyper-aware of everything. It shifts a bit uncomfortably, before moving a bit closer to Z’s avatar. The entity could feel the cold air wafting from the human, something of fear that it couldn’t quite place. Fear? ReGect thought to itself with confusion. They couldn’t imagine what could make the stoic Z feel fear, and it honestly scared them too.
“Well then, since you two kindly agreed…” the man trailed off. The crowd hollers, and ReGect sees a lot of NPCs he met before. But it doesn’t seem to be doing any good for whatever Z is going through right now. The entity slowly steps towards the player—just an inch or two—and places its hand on Z’s shoulder. God, this is awkward.
“You… you good?” He asks, whispering. Z manually shakes his computer mouse so his character can nod, which honestly kind of pisses him off. Despite the world being so much more animated than a normal Minecraft world—likely due to its already anomalous nature—some things break the illusion and push back into the world that hates him. The world that shakes him out. He wanted to live inside the digital world, often spending hours inside it, treating it like the home he never got the chance to create for himself.
Z’s arm climbs its way around ReGect’s shoulder, and ReGect could feel Z’s labored breathing. “Wh–What, you want a piece of me?” ReGect jokes immediately, forgetting to filter anything. Z grunts at him, annoyed, but doesn’t move away, which creeps it out. Without thinking, ReGect lends their arm around the human’s waist, the proximity sending heat down its nonexistent spine. The entity tries not to focus on that—not of how they can hear Z sighing, or how it can feel Z’s mangling code, or how he can barely fight off a nervous smirk—and instead turns to the red headed host-man expectantly.
“Why’d you teleport us?” Z winces a bit at the word, almost afraid that the anomaly would do it again, bracing himself, but nothing happens. The ginger conman grins, not noticing Z’s condition, or not caring.
“To explain the situation, of course! You two have been selected—as a couple—to go on a lovely date! Just the two of you!” The overtly-joyous voice fills the area of the Walmart entrance. The crowd cheers, louder than before. ReGect feels almost uncomfortable, how Z is uncharacteristically upset, how he himself is weirdly close and almost kind to its protagonist. But the redhead’s words had captured Regect’s attention. A date? With Z? Don’t get me wrong, I’d hate to go on one! But he was curious at the prospect of being alone with Z. He hadn’t had much of that opportunity after Moe had joined them, not that he minds, but ReGect was… intrigued.
“A date?” ReGect voiced his fascination aloud, earning Z’s widened eyes in return. The pale man leaning onto the entity, now fully alert, whips his head to the entity’s collar–since he can’t see anywhere else.
“Dumbass, what are you—“
“Yes, a date!” The likely-conman confirms gleefully, cutting off Z’s angry question, glad that ReGect is taking the bait. “If you win, you will go on a lovely trip to the movies, then the amusement park!” ReGect perks up at that. The crowd goes wild, though a few envious voices are audible.
“Er, Mr. Whatever-your-name-is,” Z finally speaks up, calmed enough after that event. He’d decided to stay on his laptop, for some odd reason; he’d be fine if he died like this. And, besides, they have more pressing matters at hand.
“We’re not a couple.” The moment the words left his own mouth, Z became hyperaware of their proximity, how he was clinging onto ReGect like a damsel in distress. Does ReGect notice? Even across the screen, his heart rate picked up. As the redhead glanced between the two, Z quickly pushed ReGect away. The antagonist stumbled a bit, but sighed in relief as his heart rate seemed to calm down.
“Oh, truely?” Z turned to the host, who had a smirk on his face. From here, he could see that the guy with a colorful suit had an equally colorful face; it reminded Z of a drag queen, the way the man’s eyes shimmered and the lips popped in the sunlight. Moe would like that. But quickly, the drag queen (king?)’s smirk dropped to a frown.
“So you don’t want the wonderful gift we have for you if you win?” The now-blatant-conman asks, his voice cracking with very forced child-like sorrow. Z rolled his eyes at the obviously staged performance, but he knows what’s gonna happen.
ReGect panics. It’s never been to the amusement park before. A movie, though ruined, but an amusement park? With foods, fares, and the big cart wheel? He needed to go see. “Well, I guess if you two aren’t a couple…” The colorful man trailed off, head drooping to the ground. The antagonist had to act fast.
“N-NO! WE ARE!” ReGect’s screamed, voice comes more gruffly than usual. The crowd giggled at the display, as if they were thinking, ‘I knew they were pretending!’ Z straightens up quickly, before turning to ReGect, baffled. “W-we are… we’re dating.” The words seem to leave a honey-like expression on its non-existent mouth, though he can’t figure out why. With that, the conman smirks in pleasure. Z nudges the ribs of ReGect harshly.
“Dude, what the HELL???” He scream-whispered to the pained man, who’s now whining and clutching his sides. “Why… why would you say that?!” Z’s mind seemed to freeze up, his imagination suddenly running on full blast with imagery. Stop, stop, stop, STOP HOLY SHIT–
“Listen, it’s an amusement park ride! I’ve never been to one before!” ReGect defended, now rubbing his ribs. Z scoffed, face flushed with embarrassment.
“That shit is for kids, you big baby.” He hisses, looking to the ground quickly. ReGect whines loudly like a dog, sputtering.
“B-But… Zee, come on–”
“Hello…?” They snap their attention to the conman. ReGect straightens up as Z glares at him–he’d have to lecture the entity later. “Er… ok, well, as I was saying! You are entered into a raffle, which begins in approximately 5 minutes, and if your name is called, you get to have a lovely day with your partner!” The redhead almost squeals. Z recoils at the idea, tries to anyway, but the idea seems fun. His mouth goes dry. No, no it does not. ReGect however doesn’t seem to care what the cost or situation is; his non-existent eyes are dead-set on the prize.
“And we get to go to the amusement park, yes?” He asks eagerly. The conman grins, knowing he’s got ReGect by the hook.
“If you win.” Z face-palms resisting the urge to draw out his pistol. Taking out a weapon in such a large crowd is sure to not end well.
“Zee, Zee can we please—“
“No!” ReGect growls, its collar clinking as if it’s shaking his head. Z would’ve laughed at the stubborn behavior if his face didn’t feel like their 7 furnaces.
“Wuh- why?!” The antagonist questioned again, as if all logic fell short at the aspect of a trip to the amusement park.
“Because it’s an obvious scam that you have to pay the whole thing for!” The crowd’s heads glance back and forth between the bickering pair, unsure if they’re telling the truth or just really embarrassed. The ginger man clears his throat.
“Well, to be fair, you only pay 5 bucks for the raffle ticket.” When he realizes this doesn’t seem like a fair deal, he quickly adds, “We’ll throw in an extra, just for you two.” ReGect seems to think this is perfectly priced while Z sees right through it.
“Dude, you can’t be fucking serious.” ReGect shushes him.
“We’ll do it!” They seemingly nod their vacant head, the collar-chain around its neck rattling with eagerness. The human gritted his teeth, and even though the money is fake, Z couldn’t help but feel the urge to tackle the entity.
“No—shit, it’s my money! We’re not gonna gamble it all away because you want to go and do some dumb ass shit!” ReGect throws his hands up.
“Saying that when you were clinging to me!” Z balls up his fits, biting the inside of his cheek as his neck got red.
“Hey, i-in my defense—“ The redhead clears his throat. The two blinks, seemingly having forgotten that they’re in a public server. They begrudgingly stop fighting.
“Are you two going to…?”
“Yes!”
“No!”
They shout at the same time, before bickering once more. “YOU-“ “No, I-“ “FUCKING-“
At this point, the conman gives up trying to get their attention. He lets it play out, watching the two creatures fight like cats and dogs for what seems like half an hour. At least the audience was still engaged… barely.
“You-You know what? Fine. Fine, let’s spend the last of my money on a stupid gambling raffle we won’t even fucking win!” Z takes out his wallet angrily. Whatever gets this piece of shit to shut up. Z fumbles with the cash for a second, before angrily holding it out. The conman eagerly snatched the dollar bill from Z’s hand, before giving the two their own raffle tickets.
“Write your name on these quickly!” He breathed a sigh of relief, finally securing the two victims. Z writes down his name, a simple letter, while ReGect writes down ‘scary entity’. Z catches a glimpse of it as they hand their tickets.
“Pfft, did yours say scary entity?” ReGect crossed its arms in front of its half-chest.
“Yea, it did. And lemme guess, yours said Z? Like the stupid letter?” Z laughed emptily.
“Well, no shit! You’re supposed to write down your name!” It’s the one you gave me, after all. He could feel ReGect rolling his eyes, but then the entity’s gaze lingered on the small piece of paper.
“Well then!” The pair realizes the conman had walked off. Do they always fight this much?, the creatures asked themselves, sharing a thought. “Here’s the raffle draw you all had been so patiently waiting for!” ReGect perked up and quickly rushed over, leaving Z by himself. Z sighs, annoyed by his antagonist’s actions. Might as well go, he thought to himself before slowly following the rejected’s trail.
The ginger makes a big show of sticking his hand into the box of raffle tickets, fingers wiggling weirdly as he dives in. Z cringes at the sight, but doesn’t comment on it. He’s never seen ReGect so happy, almost jumping up and down.
“Zee, I swear our names are gonna be called!” It said gleefully.
“Dude, there’s like a 0 percent chance that’s ever happening.” Z complained, though a smile tugged at his lips. ReGect, though missing a few vital facial features, evidently pouts.
“And the winner is….” The man exclaimed. Z crosses his arms, shifting his weight between his feet. I’m not excited. He bites his cheek. I lose 5 bucks or go on a date with him. That’s a lose-lose situation. And yet, the second option leaves him with a flushed face and butterflies in his stomach.
“Ohmygodshutthefuckup…” he mutters to himself, barely audible. ReGect doesn’t glance at him.
“You good?” It asks, but it’s obvious that the entity is very distracted.
“Yea, just peachy!” Z grumbles as ReGect tip-toes.
“Uhhh… the winner is…” Drumrolls play from the air, though no drums are present. What the heck??? Suddenly shaken, Z looks around in worry, but everyone is just more excited. Perhaps simply a show, he tried to relax instead, turning his attention back to ReGect. Wait, why ReGect?
“Z!” The man squints at the paper, barely able to read Z’s doctor handwriting. The human jolts, as if a child caught in a rebellious act, but ReGect immediately starts whooping in pure joy.
“OH MY GOD. OH MY GOD DUDE I FUCKING TOLD YOU!!” It grips Z’s arms and shakes him violently, yet Z almost doesn’t mind due his sheer shock. He blinks, and after he gets over his embarrassment that he was staring at ReGect, does Z realize that he won the goddamn raffle.
“I… I won..?” He managed to say when ReGect calmed down enough to stop shaking him.
“I told you. I told you we’re gonna win.”
“Well, I… I thought—“
“Yeah, cause you though we won’t get picked, and I said we will, and we did!” ReGect rubs proudly. “Oh? Oh what’s that? I’m the best ever? I’m never wrong?” It continues its tirade, a smirk audible in their voice. Z allows the entity to run the fact that he’s right, because in all honesty, Z is impressed.
“Yeah… shit, you were…” Z almost admitted. Admitted to ReGect being right. To his enemy being correct. The thought made nausea build up in his stomach.
“Everybody, let’s clap for our lucky contestants!” The non-conman laughed as ReGect grabbed Z’s wrist–sending strange sensations to the human in the process–dragging them very front of the crowd. At least 3 dozen people stared as the two rushed onto stage excitedly; well, ReGect, anyway. Z is a shade of crimson, pulling his hood above his head as they presented themselves in front of the drag king host. With a grin, the man hands ReGect 4 tickets—two to the movies and two to the amusement park–which ReGect takes cautiously so as to not rip it.
“Ohmygodthankyousomuch!!!” Its words come out in jumbled letters, excitement clearly overflowing. ReGect turns to Z with what can only be described as the most invisible shit-eating grin the human has ever fucking seen.
“Zee. Come on, you’d be stupid not to go at this point.”
“I…” Z paused for a moment. Well, we already won, didn’t we? With that, he nods. “Let’s catch a bus.”
The movie theatre in front of them is vast, with decorations guiding them to the front door. Despite being noon, the lights at the front entrance were blaring brightly at the two as Z sighed within himself. So we’re… we’re on a date…he bites back the warm feeling in his chest. No, we’re pretending. We hate each other.
The pair walks into the large theatre, strangely quiet. It’s awkward, the air around them, knowing how they got here in the first place.
“Hey, Zee,” ReGect suddenly speaks up. “Why were you so clingy earlier?” Z pauses. He’d almost forgotten about the teleportation mishap, with everything going on. Memories flood back, how he’d gotten so desperate despite being fully conscious and awake. A sly smirk was evident on the antagonist’s lack-of-lips.
“N–Nothing. Shut up.” Z’s mouth goes dry as he speaks into his microphone, suddenly hyper-aware of the room around him. He ignored it. He didn’t want reality to ruin the moment. This moment. It was rare for him and ReGect to be alone nowadays, especially ones without fighting each other.
“Oho~? It didn’t feel like nothing~!” ReGect teased, its tone almost mischievous. Z shoved the antagonists’ face–well, would’ve, if it had a face.
“Sh-shut up! I hate you!”
“Didn’t seem like it…” the entity muttered, earning a hard elbow against its ribs. An embarrassing growl escaped from Z, who beelines to the food vendors.
“Well, hello!” A familiar face greeted them. Z blinked in confusion, then shock, then annoyance.
“What are you doing here?!” Z points at the ginger angrily. The host, now selling popcorn, simply shrugged. ReGect caught up with Z.
“I am simply doing my job, sir. Now, what would you like?” They batted their long eyelashes, which Z hoped was fake, as ReGect walked up.
“Can we get a–” Z quickly stepped on ReGect’s only foot, earning a moan from the guy, and muttered an insult.
“We can’t afford it dipshit,” Z began and ReGect whimpered, but the former host raised a singular index finger.
“Actually, all food and refreshments are free for the movie. It says so on the ticket!” A shit-eating grin split onto the seller’s face, lipstick cracking slightly. Z stared, and so did ReGect.
“Everything is free?” ReGect asked, its voice impressed. If they had a mouth, their jaw would be open. On the other hand, Z was so shocked his mouth was actually agape. The man before them simply nodded with a grin, before fixing up a batch of popcorn.
“Dude, you better get on your knees and thank me for this.” ReGect murmured. Z, too shocked to even make a comeback, simply nodded. It seemed too good to be true, though, so Z wanted to test out something. The deal can't be THAT good.
“Go on, my sweet summer children…” The host whispers to himself as Z takes the drinks. It’s crazy how much they were able to squeeze out, with very little protest from the drag king. Two large cokes, one extra large popcorn, and two small churros. Z bit into his as ReGect’s excitement grew.
“Holy hell…” ReGect’s collar clinked softly as they walked towards the theatre, both sets of arms full with food. Z gulped.
“I can’t believe I’m about to say this, but for once, you deserve it.” Z took a sharp breath, scared shitless. “You were right.” The sudden cacophony of gold jewelry moving fills the air as ReGect stares with wide eyes.
“What?” He began, and Z could swear he saw tears well up in the air, where its eyes would be. What would their face look like if it had one? “Say it again.” Z shakes his head quickly. Too quickly.
“You heard it the first time, I ain’t saying anything more.” ReGect visibly pouts, but when Z speeds up his pace, follows him through the corridor. The hall was equally decked with posters and banners of promised events, photos of something similar to the ticket they gambled for. They paid no attention to them, however.
“Let’s sit far away from each other,” the pale man smirked, before pushing open the red doors. He glances at the familiar silly theme of the world—small on the outside, big on the outside. He hears ReGect’s footsteps and collar thudding away softly. It finally took the hint. Z walks through, surveying the area, when he finds a good enough spot. He sits down right in front of the theatre, in perfect view of the movie.
At the same time as ReGect.
Right next to them.
“Dude.” Z mutters as the lights start to dim.
“What?” ReGect asks, feigning innocence poorly. “I’m just sitting where I want to.”
“I said we’re gonna sit away from each other. Not right next to.” ReGect leans back into its seat, savoring the annoyed scowl on Z’s face.
“Maybe you wanted to sit next to me,” the entity offers, its arms on both armrests by their chairs. Z recoils, but not as hard as he wanted to.
“Why would I want to sit by a half-invisible antagonist?” Z throws, and ReGect visibly becomes angry.
“And I don’t want to sit next to a vampire!”
“Then move!” Z yells. He paused, going rigid, and looks around. Isn’t anyone gonna say anything? He waits for somebody to shush him, but no one does.
“Well, I–”
“Shut up.” ReGect scoffs as Z cuts him off, before realizing that he’s paying attention to something else.
“Zee?” ReGect asks its protagonist, weary. Z turns to his antagonist.
“There’s nobody else in here.” He mutters ominously, just as the ads skipped to the next. Faint sounds from the large screen play vacantly. ReGect looks around, confused, realizing that the pale man is correct.
“Huh. There’s no one here.” It states the obvious, earning a huff from the exasperated guy.
“Yeah, what I just said.” Z says, a bit loud, and it unnerves him. I used to be just fine in silence. He squirms a bit in his seat, both in real life and in the game.
“What, too nervous to be alone with me?” ReGect asked, a sly tone in his voice. Z shoves the antagonist.
“Shut the fuck up, you piece of shit. We should leave.” A growl escapes ReGect’s lack-of-throat.
“Oh I’m the piece of shit? I knew we’re gonna be picked!” Z rolls his eyes.
“That’s not the point. I have a bad feeling about this.” Z tries to stand up, but ReGect grabs his wrist, pulling him back down with a thud. How is it so strong?!
“I’m not missing a movie because you think there’s something bad that might not even happen!” The gay man yanked his hand away. (I should say right here, “human” autocorrected to gay man for some reason??? I’m keeping it though cause it’s mad funny)
“It’s not like I wanted to come anyway! You wanted to pretend we’re dating!” Z yells, disregarding his loud volume since nobody else is in the theatre.
“Well it worked out, didn’t it?” The human grumbles, trying not to ease into the seat.
“That’s not the point. I don’t want anyone to even imagine that idea.” ReGect laughed softly.
“What do you mean? You’d be lucky to ever pair up with me. I have a ton of experience!” Z felt a smirk tug at his lips, but hid it quickly.
“Oh yea? Name 10 people you dated.” ReGect sweats. I think.
“Err… uhh, there was Samantha, then Michelle, then…” It mutters softly. Z snorts.
“Dude, those are basic ass white names.” ReGect huffs, crossing their arms.
“As if you’re not white.” Z gasped in fury.
“This is atrium!” The pale man glazed his hand over his torso, as if showing it off. Then, almost in a way to mock–or mimic–ReGect’s actions, he crossed his leg. The left one above the right, mirroring ReGect. His shoe tapped ReGect’s foot.
“Same thing???” The entity commented, seemingly rolling its eyes.
“You’re colorblind!” Z spat out.
“And you act like a girl!” ReGect yelled. The ads continues playing–holy fucking shit, no seriously, how long are these damn ads??
“OH, and I’m the one who wanted to act all lovey-dovey earlier?” He growled under his breath.
“God forbid I wanted some whimsy and joy!” Z laughed sharply at ReGect’s logic.
“Oh? Is dating me bringing you joy?” ReGect pauses as Z’s face leaned in. No. No, it doesn’t. And yet, its mouth felt dry. Smoke bellows softly from their visible abdomen, finger tapping softly against the armrests. Z raised an eyebrow at the hesitance.
“No, of course not!” ReGect finally hissed, trying to keep its voice steady. Z grinned, not realizing the reason why ReGect was so guarded.
Just then, the movie finally began, the incredulously long ads finally fading to black. ReGect eagerly looks up when they realize what the title is.
“OH. MY. GOD.” The cluster of limbs slumps into their chair, resisting the urge to blow everything up. Next to him, Z’s eyes light up in eagerness.
~𝓒𝓸𝓪𝓵 𝓽𝓸 𝓓𝓲𝓪𝓶𝓸𝓷𝓭𝓼~
It’s a godforsaken romance movie. ReGect hates those, and judging by the title, it’s likely some cliche about a fake relationship that turns out to be perfect–probably taking place in high school or college. But then it catches Z’s reaction to it.
“Zee?” ReGect asks, a bit soft, curious on how the other would react. Z doesn’t look away from the big screen.
“Yeah?” He responds emptily, bouncing his left leg as the movie begins, legs now uncrossed. ReGect bites back a laugh.
“No way…” Z frowns at ReGect’s words, barely registering it.
“What?”
“Do you… Zee, do you like romance movies?” Z’s eyes widened in pure terror as ReGect giggled at the finding. “Oh my god, you so do.” Z sharply turned to ReGect, shaking his head vigorously.
“No I don’t! Why would I ever?!” Z spat out, becoming defensive. The movie itself is exactly as ReGect expected, opening in high school with definitely-not-34 16 year olds. Z glanced back, evidently curious about the scene. ReGect fought back another giggle.
“Sheesh, I never thought you’d like romcoms,” ReGect studied the pale man, who squirmed in his chair. He hissed out a soft curse.
“I don’t. I have no idea what you’re talking about.” Z said, shivering despite the room temperature. ReGect smirked at the tsundere’s words.
“Oh yeah?” The entity teased, “Then we can leave right now!” Z paused at that. I don’t wanna leave!He thought to himself, and to ReGect, the silence was all the confirmation he needed.
Z, sensing ReGect’s change in body language, immediately panicked. “Hey! Listen, it was my money, so even if we hate the movie, we’re gonna watch it!” He paused for a second, before inputting his own remark, “And it’s really funny, how much you hate it.” ReGect grits his teeth–not like it was visible–and crosses his arms.
“Oh, so the pussy wants to watch it?” Z resists the urge to tackle the antagonist.
“I’m not a pussy!” ReGect was about to retort, when the earlier incident came back to its head.
“Then why were you so scared earlier?” ReGect asked. It was curious. It always was, but to see the man break his rough composure, to get so close to sobbing, clutching desperately at the entity, it needed to know. Z, however, felt the pressure, and needed the upper hand.
“Oh? Do you suddenly care about me now?” The shorter man asked, his tone almost teasing. ReGect rolled his non-visible eyes, but a slight blush crept up his ribs.
“Why would I? I’m just curious. You were holding onto me back there.” ReGect snickers, but it doesn’t register the usual edge of teasing that Z usually feels.
“I…” He debates, for a moment. But he was sure that the rejected entity would make fun of him instead. “It’s none of your business.” Instead, ReGect softly scratched the arm rest mindlessly.
“It definitely wasn’t nothing.” The stubborn words of ReGect frustrated Z even more. As much as he wishes he could, he couldn’t concentrate anymore, even with the amazing introduction of the characters. He fought the urge to break eye contact… if it even was eye contact.
“Why do you care?” Z asked again, adamant. ReGect growled unearthly.
“I don’t. I don’t care.” They said, but Z heard a slight falter in his rough voice. Why does he care?
“Then I won’t tell you.” Z leaned back as ReGect thought about how to get Z to spill.
“If you don’t tell me, I’ll tell Moe you like romance movies.” Z, miraculously, got even paler than usual.
“Wh-what?” He barked out, shocked at the fact that ReGect would blackmail him. Though, he realized, it’s not above his paygrade.
“Tell me, and your little romcom secret is safe.” Z’s mouth was almost dry. The entity couldn’t have been this cruel.
“I-I don’t even like romcom movies!” ReGect paused for a second, studying how Z’s sweat dripped down his neck and forehead slowly. Almost agonizingly.
“I can read minds, you know.” Z did a double take at those words.
“Wha… what?” Z’s eyebrows furrowed in pure terror, but not at the fact that ReGect could read minds. No, he was more afraid of the things that ReGect would hear when reading him. “Are you serious?” His heart beat in his chest. Do they know everything I thought of it today? His brain raced with all the possibilities.
“Yeah. So tell me what happened that was so bad you started acting like my girlfriend.” Z weighs his options, choosing to ignore the last part.
“I fucking hate you,” he muttered softly. A beat. Then, “You know how we got teleported to the front of the stage?” ReGect blinked. He vaguely remembered it, too caught up in the excitement at the prospect of going to an amusement park.
“Yeah? What about it?” Z took a deep breath. He really didn’t wanna think about it, especially when there was a good romance movie right in front of him.
“I…” He thought of how to say it. He wondered why he’d even admit it. “The moment hurt.” ReGect seemed to be taken aback by that.
“It… hurt?” They almost seemed to cock its head with the way its collar moved, genuinely confused. Teleportation had never been painful in their life.
Z breathed out a sigh. He expected this. “Well, I guess it didn’t hurt. But, I have these… issues?” Z glanced back at ReGect, trying to gauge its reaction. Noting came up. “I saw flashing lights, and even… in reality… it felt like a dull ache.” Z was too open. Why was he being so vulnerable, spilling his thoughts like this? All because some random entity can read his mind? He gripped his armrest, trying to breathe.
Actually, how could he feel the armrest? He blinked away the shame, vaguely feeling the presence of the entity right next to him. Z shook his head, the game suddenly not as realistic as before. Weird, he thought, but then ReGect spoke again.
“That..” ReGect tried to think. Issues? Lights? To the entity, teleportation was more like blinking–instantaneous, easy, and quick. It wasn’t hard for it at all, and they’ve never heard of such an effect. They suddenly wished that they truly had this mind-reading power. “That sounds… hard.” It chose, unable to gather the right words, but it earned a quick laugh from Z.
“Yeah, real hard, dumbass!” Z’s shoulders sagged as he allowed himself to relax just a bit, playfully nudging ReGect’s shoulders. ReGect’s gold charm-thing–Z wasn’t sure what it was–jingled softly. The annoyance was almost… pleasurable, which made Z scoff within himself. Yeah, right!
“Hm…” ReGect shifted slowly within its seat, not knowing what to say. Z purses his lips, the silence unwelcome. Unwelcome? I used to love the silence.
“What? Cat got your tongue?” Z asked, his voice playful. ReGect chuckles softly as its nerves slowly eased away. Z turned his gaze back to the movie, but weirdly, he had a warm feeling in his chest. Shut up, ReGect can hear you! He shook his head, hand gripping his armrest tightly. But as ReGect fell silent, Z allowed himself to relax. He didn't want to think of that right now.
He turned back to the romcom before them. The characters were in the middle of devising a ‘nasty plan’ as they called it, a plan to get their crushes to become jealous. Z relaxes, sinking into the theatre seat. He didn’t love romance movies, but he did enjoy them, to an extent. It took his mind off of the annoyingly pleasant entity next to him.
Shit. Annoyingly pleasant?
His cheeks burned red at the thought. Fuck, he can read my thoughts! He tried to distract himself, somehow able to keep a straight-face. Even then, images of him and ReGect, together, close, jolts into his mind like rapid firecrackers. He let himself glance at ReGect, mortified.
But ReGect is calm.
Actually, ReGect wasn’t paying attention at all. He seemed bored, almost, not ragebaiting Z at all. Interesting… He was beginning to get a bit mad, but wanted to be merciful, instead opting to do a test.
ɪ ꜰᴜᴄᴋᴇᴅ ʏᴏᴜʀ ᴍᴏᴍ ꜱᴏ ʜᴀʀᴅ ʜᴇʀ ᴘɪɢɢʏ'ꜱ ʙᴀɴᴋʀᴜᴘᴛ! Z did his best not to laugh, the sentence being the best comeback he ever came up with; but, peeking to his side, ReGect remained unfocused. Bored. This bastard tricked me. Z snarled.
“ReGect.” The being piped up when they heard their name. Like a puppy, Z remarked, but no anger came up at the thought.
“Yeah?” ReGect asked him, happy to find a distraction from the movie. Z badly wanted to crush that antagonist’s ego. Oh, it would've been fun, if Z hadn't become so vulnerable infront of the thing. Disgusting.
“What am I thinking of?” Z asked, his tone innonect. ReGect’s… demeanor? Fell, and the two stared at each other. Does he know I’m not a mind reader?! ReGect almost panicked, before realizing they knew Z enough. A few guesses couldn't hurt, right? It first went with the obvious answer.
“UHhh… you’re thinking that you hate me!” The human chuckled a bit at that, but shook his head. Despite the calm attitude, ReGect could feel anger boil and bubble beneath the surface. The theatre was beginning to get a bit stuffy.
“Ok wait, gimme another chance!” ReGect begged. Z rolled his eyes, but nods. He decided to be merciful today, the entity giving him a free romance movie after all (even if he couldn’t comfortably watch it).
ReGect racked up their mind. It didn’t wanna be wrong again, or they’d be tackled in the theatre. As much as it’d like that, it didn’t want any bruises right now. Yo, narrator, I would NOT like it! Whatever you say, gay boy. HEY WHAT THE FUC–
Z managed to maintain a blank flace, though his jaws were clenched in anger. ReGect was lying while blackmailing him. Honestly, if you’re gonna blackmail, don’t lie about it. But what he hated most was that he fell for it. An obvious trick, no? The player studied the monster carefully.
ReGect concentrated. For once in its life, I guess. Trying to guess what Z could possibly think of. They didn’t have mind-reading, after all.
ᴷⁱˢˢ ᵐᵉ...?
ReGect’s eyes widened. I think. Was that Zee? But no, it couldn’t be. Why would Z think of that? There’s no way, no way at all. The antagonist focused again.
ₕₒw'd ᵢ fₐₗₗ fₒᵣ ₜₕᵢₛ?!
It sounded like Z, whispering, but the protagonist hadn’t said anything. It baffled ReGect. Z raised a brow, beckoning for the entity to mess up once more.
ₒbᵥᵢₒᵤₛ ₐₛₛ ₚₗₒy..
The voice is Z. ReGect blushed at the revelation. K-Kiss?? What was that?! They shook its head, after all, such a thought was impossible--and they can't read minds. But what if…?
“I knew it,” Z sighed impatiently, snapping ReGect from its spiraling thoughts. “You really can’t read my mind.” The human was ready to pounce on the entity for lying, when it threw their hands up.
“WAIT, I SWEAR I CAN READ MINDS!” They spoke with such fervor that Z hesitated. He wishes he hadn’t.
“Well, you’re not doing anything to prove it,” the man crossed his arms before him. ReGect tried to concentrate again. But the voice was gone. It was completely silent except for the awful acting and voice lines from the movie. Minutes stretched on, and Z was becoming enraged.
“Z—Zee, I—“ ReGect couldn’t get a word out before he was tackled into oblivion.
“Man, that was a good movie!” Z stretched his arms up high as the theatre door closed behind him. ReGect next to him whines about the pain, a subtle limp visible as it walks.
“Did you have to go that hard?!” ReGect screams in agony, but Z continues walking.
“Of course?? You lied to me! While blackmailing me!” He growled. “I can’t believe I fell for it… it was such an obvious lie!” Z muttered. ReGect giggles, making Z turn sharply at it, anger returning.
“Another sound out of you and I’ll send you back to ur-ANUS alright?!” At the threat, ReGect did his best to stifle back a cackle. Z’s cheeks burned—half from embarrassment from the stupid phrase and half from just anger—and he turned his head away from the injured antagonist.
“Dude…”
“I’m serious! Not a word!” Z clicked his tongue in shame and ReGect silently sulked back. The pair walk in silence for a bit, Z occasionally checking the park tickets to make sure they were heading toward the right direction. Birds chirp nearby as cars whirs and speed past. It almost feels peaceful, their soft footsteps on the concrete barely audible.
ReGect tunes in to the sound. He’s getting bored, and it definitely wasn’t the date he imagined. I mean, the adventure! He had grown accustomed to chaos and plot twists, but spending an hour and a half crying in pain as a cliche played was not something he wanted to happen. However, it did remind him of the early days of haunting Z—before Moe, when the two barely knew each other.
“Hm…” Z muttered softly, squinting at the ticket. ReGect’s head snapped up at the sound, walking quickly to close in the distance that had unintentionally formed.
“What is it?” It asked, quickly becoming worried. This whole thing would mean nothing if it couldn’t go to the amusement park. They badly wanted to go, remembering how bright and joyous it had seemed on television. It noticed Z’s lips curl into a grin, warmth radiating off.
“Man… you really got us a good bargain for five bucks,” Z grinned. ReGect puffed in pride, sensing Z’s enthusiasm. That was an emotion ReGect rarely sensed, let alone saw. Z held up the tickets as if they would be the sole thing letting him into heaven.
“I know, Zee. An amusement park is definitely worth it–”
“No, no, I’m not talking about that.” ReGect paused as Z picked up his pace. The collar’s dangling pieces clinked and swayed as it ran to match the human’s pace. Confused, ReGect waited for an explanation, which Z promptly gave.
“This says all the food and games are free.”
A pause.
“Seriously?”
Zabooboo3
Where am I?!