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Planet tiringly lay against the soft layers of his bed with his hands covering his expression, mind set on the scenes of people he had killed for a measly excuse of power.
‘I have to get over it.’ There was no way someone who self-doubts over the kills he gets would ever be powerful on Lifesteal. He has a point to prove and a goal to achieve, no matter the cost he must get it done.‘Beside, it’s not like I’ve never killed someone before.’
Fifteen hearts, he has half-way completed the conquest, only five more and everything would settle. No more blood would shed at the hands of the fallen star, or at least, not until they provoked him or his teammates.
As his thoughts circled around the topic, Planet couldn’t really let himself rest. He sat up and pondered his options.‘Everyone else is probably asleep.’ Bothering his teammates was not a choice, they would not be happy.
‘Whatever, I’ll just go outside.’ The fallen star softly sighed and got up on his feet. Stepping out of the house, an intense wave of wind abruptly hit him in the face, making his eyes tightly shut and his arm instinctively shielding his head. When his eyelids lifted, his attention immediately landed on the black night sky adorned with stars, shimmering as if they’re trying to blink at him. Planet’s expression eased, mind seemingly blank as he had been mesmerized by the stars.
The outlines surrounding those little shiny twinkles gave the idea that it was sketched with color pencils on a piece of paper. Planet winced at the weird scene, then relaxed after remembering that it’s a thing of Lifesteal.
His pupils traced the constellations he recognized as he reminisced the times before he was added to Lifesteal, unbearingly lonely and never had a place to call home. Not much had changed about that during the seasons he participated in. Yet, despite Lifesteal not being the ideal environment for someone like Planet, he acknowledged he had grown a lot since he joined.
(He ignored the possibility that it might have ruined him.)
He retracted his eyes as his feet moved on its own, dragging the fallen star towards the riverbank. Planet sat down on the side, attention focusing on the stars that beamed brighter than him and his halo despite being years away. Admiring the stars, he unconsciously yawned. He continuously blinked a few times and began dozing off as he wrapped his hands around his legs.
Then suddenly, Planet’s shoulders flinched at the sensation of someone poking it. Not even half a second passed, he instantly stood up as his hands called a sword from his inventory and flinged it backwards where he assumed the intruder was.
Planet’s nerves relaxed when he saw Spoke retreated to dodge his attack with a surprise expression.
“Woah woah- dude, are you practicing to jump the jumpers or something?” Spoke had two hands up and a nervous smile, then hid his hands behind his back while he tried to approach the fallen star.
After putting the sword away, Planet softly heaved and sat back down on the flowing field of grass.
“No, and what did you mean by ‘jump the jumpers’? The only ‘jumper’ I know is JumperWho.” Planet glanced at the void being, who put his hands behind his head and lay down next to him.
“Nah it’s not like that. So, when you get jumped it’s like, unexpected right?” Spoke asked, tilting his head to see Planet’s face.
“Yeah?” He hesitatingly agreed.
“So by ‘jump the jumpers’, I meant to counter being jumped by jumping them back!”
“…”
‘Oh. So that’s what ‘jumpers’ means…’
“At this point, you can be the new dictionary.”
“Hey! You don’t get to talk if you combine words and tell people it’s an effective way to save time!”
“Okay fine, that’s fair.” Planet surrendered, for his lack of energy “Why are you up?”
“Bro, that should be me who is asking. Why are you up?” The void being raised an eyebrow at him.
“I couldn’t sleep, so I came out here.”
“Well, I heard you opening the door so I came out here.”
“Oh, sorry.”
“Nah, it’s fine. Why can’t you sleep? Nightmare?”
A pause, Planet contemplated on how he should reply.
“…I just can’t sleep.” A half-truth.
“M’kay.”
Silence engulfed the air for a long while, neither of them had any words or gestures. Planet hugged his legs and used it as a resting place for his head, whereas Spoke straightened his back and sat up on the left. Others might think the situation was a bit awkward, but for them, it is a way to show company as neither of them are specifically good with communication, at least not with each other.
He knew Spoke didn’t buy his half-excuse of ‘just can’t sleep’, he was feigning ignorance, probably inviting Planet to talk about it himself rather than pushing him. And maybe, enjoy his company if the fallen star wasn’t willing to. Planet could just do the latter, he didn’t want Spoke to bother himself with his stupid problem. Yet contradictorily, he didn’t know what to do. If he leaves the problem untouched then some day in the future, it will breath regrets into his ears.
So, he decided to elaborate.
“I don’t know if I should continue this or not.” he sighed into his arms.
Spoke seemed to consider how to appropriately answer, as someone who previously did the same thing.
“You mean, the 20 hearts thingy?” he asked.
“Yeah.”
“You don’t want to do it anymore?”
“No, it’s just… I feel like I shouldn’t be doing this.” He blankly stared at the grass moving beneath him. “It’s not that I feel bad about killing them, that’s just an average day on Lifesteal.”
A sad smile appeared on Planet’s face when he heard the other’s hum of agreement, signaling him to continue.
“But… something in their eyes whenever I stabbed my sword makes me sick. I…, I don’t know. They look at me like I’m not supposed to do this, even though most of them have done the same.”
Planet thought of the gazes he was given when players were about to die.
“…Why do they look at me that way?”
The fallen star’s head buried into the bundle of his arms and legs. As if the weight of something has lifted from his shoulders, he can feel his eyes heating up.
Then suddenly, a question was raised with the voice of his teammate - Spoke.
“What do you think is the difference between you and me?”
“Huh?” Planet’s head pivoted to the side where Spoke was seated and he mildly frowned “What do you mean?” He abruptly twists his neck in order to be able to see the look on Spoke’s face. What he could make of it was… ‘Nothing, with a hint of curiosity, I guess.’
Ever since they became teammates, Planet has been trying to read the other’s expression, but he fails most of the time. He guesses it’s just because he’s not good at it.
“SpokeIsHere of the last season, PlanetLord of the current one. What do you think differentiate them?”
‘He’s speaking in third person again.’ Planet had noticed this weird habit of the void being, though he doesn’t mind. His teammate uses it to mess around from time to time, nothing harmful.
“…I don’t know.”
“Dawg, just think about it, you can take your time.”
Pouting, Planet took it as a sign that Spoke knew he was impatient for answers and did not think at all.
‘The difference between Spoke and I…?’
“Um… you had more power?”
“Dude- noo. Not that, I meant the differences as people, y’know?”
Planet eyed at Spoke with a look that obviously says ‘Bro, you should just tell me at this point.’, and in response, the void being facepalmed while sighing heavily.
“What do you think of me beforehand?”
“Before this season?”
“Yeah. Be honest.”
“Um… you’re the kind that looks like you’re carefree about everything, but is actually too fixated on your position of power.”
For a brief moment, Planet thought he saw Spoke flinched, but casted it aside and finished his response.
“I think you still are.” He said as Spoke leaned forward and had his gaze focused on somewhere past the riverbank.
‘Is this the first time he heard someone say it?’ Realizing what just happened, Planet also tried to scatter his attention on this very interesting tree across the river.
Another minute passed, Spoke finally broke the defeating silence.
“That’s… a very interesting description.”
“Has no one ever told you that?”
“No, not exactly.”
“Oh. I guess I am the first then.”
Planet didn’t know what to think of such an answer, but that does mean Spoke has never been truly given an honest response in this matter.
‘Did no one ever take his question seriously?’ A striking thought, which would have started flipping his opinion of his teammate if it wasn’t for the teammate himself that disturbed it.
“...Maybe if you weren’t on Lifesteal but other servers, it would have been better for you.”
The fallen star’s eyes widened.
“…What?”
“Yeah. You…” the void being paused “You’re too kind.”
Too kind. Two simple words Planet hadn’t heard in a long time, the star in his halo stopped orbiting.
“You still think I’m kind now?” he snorted as an attempt at humor. Though it presumably failed because…
“You’re kind enough if you let me off all the things I’ve done.”
“…It’s a previous season, I don’t hold such grudges.” he swore he could hear Spoke murmur something “Besides, I’m not much different if I’m doing the same thing as you now.”
“That would make us two peas in a pot then.”
“That means you’re also kind.”
Seemed like that caught the other off guard, because he immediately snapped his head in the opposite direction. Flustered, Spoke hurriedly changed the topic.
“Okay, dude. We’re getting off topic.” he coughed “Why do you think they always think I’m up for mischief?”
“Well, I wonder why.”
“...”
Spoke for sure did groan in helplessness, if not then he did it mentally.
“Before season 4, I was still a menace, as I have always been. That’s why even when I opened the Wormhole, no one was surprised that I managed to pull off such a thing.” he started.
Spoke easily pleaded guilty to his shenanigans back in season 4, and Planet had no objection. Perhaps if he did the same in the said season, less problems would occur for the fallen star. Though he doesn’t hold on to ifs, the past is in the past.
“But you… No offense, but you were not even seen as a threat. From my view, you have been helping around, following people and well… gracious enough to forgive those who hurted you, and your teammates.”
Hearing the exclamation, the fallen star grimaced but did nothing to cut off Spoke’s words.
“And that’s what differs us, PlanetLord.”
“People expect chaos from me, but kindness from you. And when you don’t meet their expectations, they get furious.”
“...I see.”
What irony. Here they are, Spoke and Planet, the two that almost contrast each other, in the same team.
Planet, who forgave Spoke for the unforgivable things he had done and trusted him despite his history of manipulation. Spoke, who tolerated Planet’s goal that opposed his and stayed with him no matter how much danger it brought.
A fraction of his heart calmed down, with lesser worries and more comfort than he started the night with.
“...Thank you.” he reconsidered his words, before continuing “Also, I don’t know if this means much to you, but I think you’ve already changed enough. For me, only the thought of redeeming yourself of your past mistakes is easily worth the credit.”
“I-” Spoke wanted to say something, but he didn’t. In the corners of Planet's eyes, he saw the other’s palm gripping blades of grass
For some reason, the wave of sleepiness hit the fallen star like a truck. He found himself almost dozed off on his legs, yawning. That caught the void being’s attention, and he took it as the golden chance to change the subject.
“You’re already sleepy?”
“Dude,” another yawn interrupted his sentence “it’s like 2 am. Of course I am.”
“Should’ve stayed in your bed then.”
“You don’t get to talk like you’re not up with me.”
“I only got up because you got up!”
“I didn’t force you to be here?”
“Dawg, ugh whatever. I’m not arguing with a sleepy head.”
Spoke watched as Planet lay on his back and lowered his eyelids. The former arched an eyebrow while voicing his concern.
“Ya sleeping here?”
“I’m too lazy to go back.” Planet then completely shut his eyes after turning away.
“Bro, at least find some wool or something-” he leaned over to find Planet who curled up like a cat with his eyes tightened and an untrouble expression.
“How did this guy fall asleep that fast…” he wondered about the strange ability of his teammate.
Spoke sighed as he threw himself right next to the said teammate on the ground, baring themselves naked and vulnerable to any attempt of murder that some people might commit. ‘Eh. He’s probably exhausted.’
Having settled down, he also shut his eyes. Slowly but surely, Spoke’s face rested, his mind gradually drifted into a dreamless dream.
If the void being looked carefully, he might’ve noticed a small smile gracing the lips of a peaceful and slumbering fallen star.