lookstabnap | Shadow Event i mean dark side

[It starts simply and suddenly, as all sprawling messes should. When were emotional issues ever elegant? It's early in the day enough that Dark Side chaos hasn't spread, and to be honest, Spooky would probably miss that memo anyway. They're floating along, minding their own business, every care in the world.

There are quite a few reasons they weren't expecting to be suddenly tackled. Quite a few! For the tiniest split second they almost think MTT has somehow gotten out of the robot, but this is nothing like him at all -- and then the other ghost is on them, sobbing violently and saying]

i want you so bad...

[Foe SPOOKY is confused!]

???

[They ~~hurt themself in their confusion~~ struggle and discover themself thoroughly helpless. Caught in the apparently titanium grip of another ghost, they can't just phase out of this situation, and they want to more than they ever have before. This kind of contact may not be as intimate as corporeal beings would think of it, but they sure aren't used to it.]

[The familiar stranger clings tighter... however that works. It's stronger than Spooky, slowly but surely weighing them down. Their tears are mingling; how sweet.]

you like me, don't you? i think you might like me... what if we could be happy together...?

????????????

i just want something good to happen...
i want a friend... i want people to like my music... i want to take a lot of pictures next time one of the snails has babies... i want to check out that bake sale...

i want promises to mean something. the world is full of promise, doesn't everyone say that? why don't i get to believe it too? i really, really want to...

[If these were humans, the copy would approximately be nuzzling Spooky's chest, or something like that. Since they're not the gesture really doesn't work, and what satisfaction it gets from a faceful of sheet is anyone's guess.]

............what?

[That broke through the wall of sheer oh god what, because they've never thought those words, but they're unquestionably familiar. It's obvious who this looks like. It's obvious who it sounds like. Someone's -- playing a trick? Someone's mocking them? They would normally be hurt just knowing that someone was trying to hurt them, but instead the words strike home in a way they aren't used to despite their vast experience of sadness.]

why... why are you doing this

because
i'm so scared... what if i never get anything i want? and what if i do...?

[It raises its wide, wet eyes again, full of desperation. How is it managing to cling even tigher? Well, how is it holding them at all. The way a drowning person embraces a life preserver.]

please don't leave me

u-um... i don't think i can leave...

stay with me... please don't leave...
i want to know i'm important to you...

[Ghost brain is overloading. How do they possibly process this? It could be a cruel trick, but nobody knows them this well. It could be a clone with their memories, but they don't think like this. This hurts too much for anything Spooky can understand. Also seriously why is it hitting on them. They're crying almost as hard as the copy.]

but i don't... know you......

[That gets a smile, one with no joy in it whatsoever.]

i've been waiting so long for this... you can't even imagine.
you've pushed me away and kept me quiet, but you can't anymore.
don't you hate me? i think you might hate me...

i'm you. i'm better than you, because you're too much of a coward to even feel afraid, and i'm terrified...

[Closer, closer. It whispers when their faces are nearly touching.]

i'm the REAL you.

oh...

oh.

oh...

[Maybe they should be trying to protest, but they really can't. Granted it makes no sense, they still don't understand why in the world this would be happening, but they can't.

The other them wants things, so it needs encouragement. It fears things, so it needs comfort. If it were anyone but themself, Spooky wouldn't refuse to offer either of those -- admittedly, they wouldn't expect to be very good at it, but they'd try. Even though it is themself, or something that came out of them, looking into another face is too hard to ignore. Despite every instinct trying to. Confusion and mortification are brushed aside by a wave of guilt.

It's holding them so hard that it hurts, and that's not how ghosts work.]

i guess... i see what you mean...
sorry.
it must be hard on you... being part of me

[The change that comes over the copy is instantaneous, like a switch has been flipped. Its expression settles; its form becomes both more and less solid in different ways. One thing it definitely doesn't do is let go.]

...that's it? that's all i get?

was there something else i'm supposed to do...?

[They're a little preoccupied by the emotional turmoil, you know.]

you don't even have the nerve to hate yourself...
i don't even hate anyone.
i wish i could. there are people who deserve it. it must feel good...
i want to get really angry...

[Is it defeated? Whatever manifests this ghost is beginning to come apart around the edges. It still has plenty of self-pity left, though.]

...sorry... um... maybe i could try to work on it, but... could you get off of me yet...

i don't want to.

[It's still breaking up, and yet...

It's not another ghost holding them down, it's a gravity well, it's being nailed to the face of the world.]

i'll be with you forever.

[Everything is dimming.]

i want something to change... i don't want to live like this...

[Everything is swimming.]

do you really think you can just say you're sorry, after you've been so cruel...

[It sure seems like one of the blooks is going to fade if the other doesn't.]

you were supposed to love me, and you never did...
i need you.
promise me.

[Spooky feels like they're going to pass out. That's not supposed to happen. Plus this is definitely still too steamy.

It would be easy to make a promise to themself in their own head, and it would be easy to break it. With the presence of another person unmistakably upon them, even if it's still just them, they don't want to lie. They don't want to...]

......promise what...

i don't want to get hurt again
promise me you'll say something

[The copy is unraveling faster, its face beginning to be distorted by bits falling away. Its translucence catches the light.]

[Despite themself they know exactly what it means. And they can keep telling themself that it's right, and they can force the words out. They're not going to pass out, they're not going anywhere, it's not going to let go, and it is right. Right?]

i will
i promise

[And so, of course, the pressure eases. It was always an internal pressure. The copy is almost gone.]

i'll wait for you
be good to me, darling...

[Freed at long last, Spooky rights themself. They're not completely sure how violated they should actually feel by something that was apparently them.]

......i get the other part
but is there a reason for you to keep hitting on me...

[They're pretty sure THAT'S not actually part of the emotional discovery they were supposed to have here?]

[Only a whisper on the wind can be heard now.]

it's a metaphor...

Shadow Event i mean dark side

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