Thinking these thoughts over, I respond.
"Inv… no matter what you look like… I would still be your partner. I wouldn't go anywhere…" I sincerely say.
I see a quick trace of uncertainty cross Inv's face.
"I… i don kno… I don wan tu ruin wha i hav riht noaw…"
I can hear the fear in his voice while saying this. Of not wanting to show me his true self… but I don't want to back off now… I don't want him to hide his true self from me…
"Inv… I won't force you… but… if you showed Joey your true self and he accepted you… wouldn't that be much better than only showing him one side of yourself?" I say to Inv, slightly leaning into the 'fake' persona Inv has given me.
Hearing my response I see Inv look conflicted. His skin starting to take a deep purple which is confusing since were technically souls right now??
I think I'm just going to start ignoring the whole soul thing and pretend we're just inside a different place ourselves.
"Bu… wa ef i sho him… an et ruin everting?" Inv shakily says.
Attempting to calm Inv down, I try something. I'm not sure if it will work like how it did before but I have to try.
'Inv will be able to touch me again' I think to myself. Since I'm already close to Inv I move in wrapping my arms around him. My head leaning against his chest.
"And what if it doesn't ruin everything? Wouldn't you feel much better knowing that he accepts you completely? A partner that will accept you, no matter what you are?" I further try to convince Inv, hating to pretend to be this fake persona. I feel like if i told Inv if I was real right now though I wouldn't be able to get anywhere.
…
Slowly I feel Inv wrap his arms around me. Confirming that what I did worked and now he's able to touch me again. This whole soul space thing is going to take a while to get used to. Trying to follow these weird rules.
Silence envelopes us, Inv only gently hugging me back this time compared to earlier. I take his silence as him seriously considering what I just said. My only hope being that he doesn't decide to hide his true self from me. I won't force him though. It's his choice.
…
"Just remember Inv, I wont leave you. No matter what happens"
After saying these words, for a small moment… my vision is filled with only pure gold radiating from Inv. basically blinding me for a moment since my head was right against his chest.
I can only take this as a good sign, feeling Inv holding me even more strongly now.
"Tank u…" I hear Inv mumble above me.
Not saying anything else, I just hold Inv. Enjoying the quiet moment of hugging him. With only the 2 of us inside this empty space.
…
…
…
'Huh… I'm actually starting to feel… tired? Can souls also get tired as well?' I think to myself, something similar to sleep deprivation starting to kick in.
I guess it would make sense to not be able to be conscious all the time…
I can't bring myself to end this hug though…
What will happen if I fall asleep here? Will I just disappear? Or will my soul just fall asleep in Inv's arms? Wait… no… he also a soul right now…
I hate this soul nonsense.
As I'm trying to consider what to do I feel Inv start moving. Gently pushing me back I look up at Inv.
Compared to earlier he seems much calmer now. No more traces of anxiety i saw on him earlier. Has he finally thought it through?
"Ok… ok i… i tink i wil tel Joey… i shoudnt kep des a secet frm him…" Inv slowly says with a serious look.
Hearing him say he will tell me makes me overjoyed! I was really worried he would try to hide it!
"T-that's good Inv! Just remember to not force yourself… he will definitely accept you no matter what" I say to Inv, feeling I'm one step closer to being close to Inv.
While looking at Inv I see him… widen his eyes at me in silence… did I say something weird just now?? Was that to much??
"Mhm… tank u…" Inv says before I can say anything else.
"Et wa nic talkn tu u faek Joey… i hav tu go noaw…"
Huh? He has to go?? Go where???
"Don wory, im sur we wil se eac oter agan"
Right after Inv said these words, he suddenly vanished?! WHAT?!
"INV?!" I yell his name out by his sudden disappearance.
What the heck just happened?! Calling out Inv's name several times I get no response back. Realizing I'm somehow alone in the soul space.
'I mean, I knew there had to be some way to exit the soul space but how did he figure it out before me??'
Being left by myself once again, I let out a loud sigh. This was not how I wanted things to go at all…
It was supposed to be like… 'hey Inv! Look at this new space we can hang out in just the 2 of us! We could continue what we started last cycle if you want…'
"Fuckkkkkkkkk…" letting go of myself, I turn my body in a way to where it would probably look like I'm floating on the surface of water.
"Well… at least I was able to get some answers to why he freaked out when he looked in the mirror… now I just wonder why he acted the way he did when i first saw him in the soul space…" I voice my thoughts aloud since no one else is here.
Out of curiosity, I close my eyes, pulling up the system screen to check something.
Seeing the map pop up I see my character icon floating in pitch darkness, just like when I passed out last time and ended up here.
Vessel⬇
Soul
Invert
Switching to vessel, the map changes to both my slugcat icon and Inv's Icon currently in the shelter. Interestingly enough… I see Inv's icon slightly moving. Does that mean he's awake right now?
Since this basically confirms that he left the soul space and is awake. I open my eyes back up.
…
"I'll figure it out next cycle… for now… time to sleep…" I mumble to myself. Feeling even more tired than before.
As if out of nowhere, I feel a certain tug. If I go along with it, I will fall asleep.
Letting it happen. My vision truly darkens. My last thoughts, hoping that everything will be alright next cycle…
…
..
.
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A/N - things are slowly coming along... just need to iron out a couple more things.