Chapter Text
Stanley had done every ending at least once, he was pretty sure, and he was still forced to go through this endless loop. He didn't understand why. Sure, he doesn't know anything but the loop, the story, this "game" as the Narrator calls it occasionally. But he was growing bored of it! He's seen it all, he's experienced it all, and he was still meant to go through it? It was frustrating, and Stanley would truly like it to stop.
At least when he was in his office, before any "run", he could take his time and relax. Sure, he was forced to listen to the same story first -something he could probably recite in his sleep now- but at least after that it was quiet. No pesky Narrator, no pesky story, no nothing. Sure, his office was also quite boring in comparison, but Stanley was pretty good at amusing himself.
And right now, he goal wasn't amusement, but rest. If he could just take a couple hours and maybe try and sleep, he'd be content. And so far, the Narrator had never bothered Stanley while he's been in his office, so maybe he wasn't... active? while he was still in here. Unless he closed his door, of course, which would trigger that one ending. While that was a rather calm ending, it wasn't exactly long enough to let Stanley rest. He much preferred just not triggering the Narrator at all, and hope he could sleep.
Stanley moved the keyboard of his computer to the side, and settled his arms onto his desk. It wasn't the most comfortable position, and he would much prefer to sleep on a couch rather than at his desk, but it would do. He may not be physically tired, but mentally he could really use a break. So he shifted to lay his head onto his arms, glad his office was just about the darkest room in the building (besides the secret passageway), and closed his eyes.
"Stanley?"
The voice of the Narrator brought Stanley out of his dozing state. He had no clue how much time had passed, though he felt like it might have been an hour? It had been notably longer than any ending for sure at least. Honestly, he was kind of surprised to hear the Narrator at all. So perhaps he was "active" the entire time, but just left Stanley alone while he was in his office. Unless he took to long, apparently.
"You've not moved in over an hour. The story will only wait so long, you know? You should really get a move on."
Stanley groaned, rolling his eyes and burying his head further into his arms. Stupid Narrator and his stupid story. Why couldn't he just take a damn break? Was nowhere in this building safe from the Narrator? He directed his unhappy grumbles towards the Narrator in his mind, staying right where he was. He didn't especially feel like doing the story still. An hour of peaceful quiet had been nice, but clearly not enough for the man.
"Come on now Stanley! What are you trying to achieve here anyways?"
The Narrator huffed, and Stanley would say the entity was annoyed if he didn't sound more impatient than anything else. Like the story was all that mattered to him, which was probably true, if Stanley thought about it. Maybe the Narrator was the story, and that was why he forced Stanley to keep going through it.
No, that sounded stupid. The Narrator may not be a human person like Stanley was, but he wasn't just a story either. That sounded stupid anyways; how could a story be an alive entity? No, the Narrator was some disembodied voice or something like that. Clearly not omniscient nor omnipotent, but he had some degree of control over the story and environment, as far as Stanley had figured out.
[I'm tired. Let me rest.]
Stanley was glad he could just think at the Narrator to communicate. As long as he purposefully thought at the Narrator, he could hear it, which was nice. Stanley could keep all his thoughts private otherwise, which he was incredibly glad for. He didn't need his every thought broadcasted to the Narrator, especially when Stanley thought negatively about the entity in question.
Unsurprisingly, Stanley's thought was met with an indignant sound from the Narrator, almost offended in a way.
"Rest? Stanley, you are incapable of experiencing exhaustion, you do not need rest."
Stanley would've rolled his eyes if he weren't still attempting to relax. Maybe he should give up on that notion though- clearly the Narrator wasn't going to let him get more rest than he had already gotten. Which hadn't been enough, still. So, with a world-weary sigh, Stanley sat up and leaned back into his chair, crossing his arms across his chest as he stared up at the ceiling -where he assumed the Narrator "was". He more assumed the being was all-around him, but it felt better to have something designated to stare at.
[Ever heard of mental exhaustion? I've played through your story over and over, I deserve a break.]
Not to mention that Stanley barely complained about the endings. He was made fun of, got insulted, had cruel jokes played on him, and he was murdered multiple times -how did he not deserve a break? Most of the endings felt very against him and his happiness, and he greatly disliked that. Was there even one good ending? One that didn't hurt emotionally or physically? He tried very hard to think about every ending, crossing out the ones he was killed in, or the ones that made fun of him. Even the "Intended" ending where he got out was crossed off the list, as having freedom ripped away from him was quite hurtful.
He supposed the Confusion Ending wasn't that bad. It may even be a little fun. He did enjoy the ending with those other "games" too, if only because he got to constantly disobey the Narrator, and didn't have to go through the normal story. He's found that weird ending that just led to a white void with buttons too, that was fine. Jumping out the window was okay, he guessed.
"Stanley there is no reason as to why you would need a break."
Of course the Narrator would keep arguing with Stanley about it. Why wouldn't he? All the entity seemed to care about was the story, and Stanley was starting to get really sick of it. The story wasn't a lot of fun for him, and he didn't really feel like living through the same things over and over for the rest of eternity. And Stanley feared this was his life for all of eternity. Even though he had vague memories of places that weren't here, experiences he's not had. Like weather.
[Yes there is! This stupid game is barely better than torture for me! Over and over you kill me, insult me, make fun of me, and are just plain cruel to me, and I don't deserve a fucking break?!]
Stanley tolerated a lot. He didn't complain outright to the Narrator whenever he was being cruel to him. But enough was enough. He just wanted a little break, a couple of hours of rest, that was all. If the Narrator hadn't interrupted him, and just left him in peace, Stanley would've continued going through the story with little complaints. But of course that couldn't have happened.
"Get over yourself. It's just a story Stanley, it's not my fault if you take things personally."
The Narrator's nonchalant tone of voice was grating on Stanley's nerves even more, how dismissive he was of Stanley's feelings, blaming him for how he felt about the story. It was infuriating, making Stanley stand up with his foot stomping on the ground, face in an angry scowl up at the ceiling. If looks could kill, Stanley's glare would make him a serial killer.
[Oh excuse me princess! How could I feel insulted when you say "Stanley is fat and ugly and really really stupid". How dare I feel hurt hearing "Did you really think you had a loving wife? Who would want to commit their life to you?".]
Stanley was more than just angry, he was pissed. He could keep going with all the cruel shit the Narrator had done to him, and he was. He kept thinking about the many times the Narrator made fun of him, hurt him, killed him, forced him to kill himself. He made sure to direct it all at the Narrator, so he knew just how deeply Stanley was hurt.
He wasn't interrupting Stanley either. Stanley was angrily thinking until he ran out of steam, hands clenched into fists, breathing heavily even though all he'd done was mentally yell at the Narrator. But as he finally stood there in silence, having let out all of his frustrations and anger, he felt a little better. It was weird how silent the Narrator was, but maybe it was good. Stanley hoped it was.
"Stanley... I.."
The Narrator seemed speechless. Stanley huffed, crossing his arms and leaning against his desk, glaring at the ceiling. He wasn't going to say anything else, he wanted to hear what the Narrator had to say now.
"It seems I owe you an apology, Stanley. I didn't realize just how... human you are."
Stanley raised a brow listening to the Narrator. Sure, he was somewhat certain he wasn't a normal human person, but he felt human enough. How had the Narrator not thought about that? Or was the Narrator so used to Stanley not behaving like a normal human person? Perhaps he should have complained more often before this, or should've broken down crying or whatever. But at least the entity seems to finally realize something good for once, so Stanley couldn't complain all that much.
Still, it was a little strange. Even if he hadn't gotten mad at the being before this, he'd shown plenty of emotion in his opinion. So it couldn't be that the Narrator didn't know he had emotions, surely.
[Apologize then.]
Stanley felt like making it harder for the Narrator, mostly because he was feeling petty. He had literally no control in this place, so if he could make the Narrator do anything, he would.
"I-. I apologize Stanley. It is my fault for forgetting about humans' emotions and what they cause."
Stanley relaxed a little. Sure, a single apology didn't make everything okay, but it was a lot better than nothing. Though he did take note of what else the Narrator said: forgetting about emotions. Because if Stanley understood that correctly, the entity didn't know emotions, and probably didn't experience them. That would of course explain a lot more of his behaviour, and how he could be so blasé about being cruel to Stanley. He probably had no concept of cruelty, so for him it really was just some impersonal story, something that shouldn't affect the person going through it.
[Apology accepted. I'm not about to forgive you for all of the shit you put me through though.]
[That aside, how did you forget about emotions? Do you not have them?]
It seemed stupid to Stanley. In nearly all endings, the Narrator displayed emotions. The villainous glee during the countdown, the happy elation while following the Adventure Line™, the heartbreaking sadness after the zen room. It sounded so real, every ending Stanley did. Were they just part of the story? A script? An act? It was certainly very convincing if so, but it also would explain just why the Narrator had never seemed to care about how Stanley felt.
"I do not experience emotions, and frankly, I don't really understand them either. They were never something I really considered, outside of what my story predicts."
Huh. Stanley felt like he understood the Narrator a lot better now. So he was a being who couldn't feel emotions, didn't understand emotions, and wrote a story that made the "player" feel a lot of emotions without having any clue about how they worked. Stanley wanted to question the Narrator about the choice of doing that, but generally the Narrator's choices for what emotion "Stanley" should feel in the story weren't exactly wrong. Maybe he had some instinctual understanding of them? Or maybe it were just lucky guesses? No, no Stanley didn't believe it was just pure chance. There was some understanding of emotions the Narrator had, enough that he knew how to use them for his narrations.
[Then you better trust the person who does experience them. If I say I need a break, I need it.]
"Alright alright, I understand. While I do not understand why a break is necessary, I will allow you to take them when you need them. But I must implore you to not ignore the story. It is important you continue with it."
The Narrator sighed, but relented. Stanley felt like he had achieved at least a small victory today, though maybe actually talking with the Narrator was a good thing to do in any case. Clearly the Narrator wasn't out to hurt Stanley, or at least to be intentionally cruel to him, so perhaps talking to the entity when something was wrong was the way to go. And if not, well, Stanley would trust himself to spend hours in the broom closet, ignoring the story, until the Narrator would talk with him.
But for now, he was granted breaks. And that was truly more than Stanley had ever expected to come out of this, if he was honest.
So Stanley finally left his office, and the Narrator didn't start up his normal narrations. Stanley was thankful for that, even if he had to continue with the story later. For now, he was going to take a break, and sleep on a couch.