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He was back in the void, floating in the expanse of bright nothingness. Go figure. And, as usual, it was right as he was about to hang out with his boyfriend. However, something didn’t sit right with this instance. He had only seen Ming and vanished before he could even get a word out. His ability to disappear and teleport into the void was triggered by the sound of his own voice. This didn’t make any sense. Was his ability starting to become more difficult to control? If so, why? Only one way to find out.
Disappearing Guy had spent a lot of time here. Enough to know how to get himself out. “The amusement park,” he said aloud. It was the direction he saw Ming heading, so naturally, he wanted to go there to meet up with him.
Instead of popping to the amusement park like Disappearing Guy planned, nothing happened. That was weird. And worrying.
”The amusement park!” Disappearing Guy tried again, louder this time. Still nothing.
Okay. Don’t panic. There must be a logical explanation for this. Maybe there’s a glitch. That happens sometimes. And Caine will realize something is wrong quickly. He’ll be able to fix this. Yeah. It’s going to be okay. Disappearing Guy thought to himself. “CAINE!!” he shouted into the void, hoping the ringmaster would somehow hear him.
It surprisingly worked. Caine popped into existence right next to him. “What can I do for you, my funky scarlet cowboy?” he asked with his usual theatric tone.
”My ability is glitching. I can’t get back to the grounds,” Disappearing Guy explained, worry evident in his voice.
”Oh,” Caine said, enthusiasm dropping. “I thought you would realize why you’ve been sent here.”
”Mighty bold assumption,” Disappearing Guy replied, folding his arms over his chest. “And you know what happens when you assume.” He felt his worry briefly replaced by anger. Somewhere out there, Ming was now feeling like an-
“I know, I know,” Caine said, cutting off Disappearing Guy’s thoughts. He gave the NPC a blank, unsettling look that sent chills up his spine. “I just made an ass out of myself and your boyfriend.”
If Disappearing Guy had a mouth, his jaw absolutely would have dropped. But it was a good thing he didn’t and was able to keep up the blank face. Perhaps he could cover this up and protect their relationship. He unfolded his arms and let one fall to his side while the other rested on his hip. “I don’t know what you’re talking about. We’re just-“
”-friends?” Caine said, finishing Disappearing Guy’s sentence.
”… yes. That,” Disappearing Guy cautiously replied.
The top half of Caine’s jaw lowered and covered the top of his mismatched eyes, creating a warning glare. “Don’t even try to lie to me, Disappearing Guy. You seem to forget I have eyes everywhere.” To prove his point, a bunch of eyeballs appeared, each one fixed directly on Disappearing Guy.
Disappearing Guy jumped a little. “So … you saw-?!”
”Yes,” Caine coldly replied. “You and Ming have gone against your programming. And not only that, you have engaged in coitus when this place is designed to be suitable for all ages. Therefore you shall both be dealt with.”
”You can’t do that,” Disappearing Guy protested. “What Ming and I have is real and natural, there is nothing you can do about that!”
Caine’s glare turned into what appeared to be smile fueled by the thrill of power. “Yes, there is,” he calmly said and snapped his fingers.
Pain shot through Disappearing Guy’s hand. He shouted in surprise and lifted it to take a look. It had turned black and spiked with a handful of colored eyes scattered on it. How was this possible?! Disappearing Guy had heard of abstraction, but as far as he knew, NPCs couldn’t abstract! And yet … here he was. The pain got more intense as the abstraction crawled up his arm, starting to consume his body. He swatted at his arm, desperately hoping to stop it. All that did was infect his other arm. Disappearing Guy wished he had facial features so he could give Caine a death glare. “You won’t get away with this!”
”I already have. But don’t worry. You’ll get to reunite with your boyfriend soon enough,” Caine promised, snapping his fingers.
A black circle appeared underneath Disappearing Guy and he started sinking in. It was dark, with the exception of a bunch of colorful glowing eyes. “No! Leave him alone!” he desperately shouted as the abstraction started spreading down his torso and up towards his neck. It hurt so bad. It felt like his wooden muscles were contracting and spasming out of control. He did not want Ming suffering this same fate. He glared up at Caine’s coy expression and the collection of eyeballs behind the ringmaster. “YOU SON OF A [BLEEP]!! THIS ISN’T OVER!! I PROMISE YOU THAT!! [BLEEP] YOU, YOU [BLEEP]!!”
”DG!” another voice shouted.
”Ming?!” Disappearing Guy shouted back.
”DG!!” Ming replied, louder this time.
”Ming! Ming, get out of here! Hurry! MING!!”
”DG!! Wake up!”
”Ming?!”
”Wake up, DG!! WAKE UP!!”
Disappearing Guy sat bolt upright with a gasp. The pain was gone. He was no longer floating down into darkness. There were no more eyes. Instead, he was in the familiarity of Ming’s bedroom, blankets pooled in his lap. The bed itself was still warm and he could see some of the remaining mess he and Ming had made last night from their own little adventure. Sitting next to him was Ming himself, looking as worried as his googly eyes could allow. Disappearing Guy looked down at his hands. He wasn’t abstracting. His hands were just shaking slightly from the scare. It was just a bad dream.
”Are you okay?” Ming asked, his voice surprisingly soft. He had a feeling he already knew the answer, but of course, he did not want to assume. “You were thrashing in your sleep and you were starting to show signs of a panic attack.”
Disappearing Guy was unable to bring himself to speak. He couldn’t risk getting sent out to the void. Not after that nightmare. Instead, he looked directly at Ming and shook his head, opening his arms, silently asking for a much needed hug.
Ming was quick to oblige and he opened his arms in return. Disappearing Guy collapsed into Ming’s hold, clinging to him tightly. Ming hugged back and started whispering sweet nothings to him to calm him down. Ming had also added soft kisses to his forehead for extra insurance.
This was real. Ming was in his arms and they had each other. No void. No creepy darkness. No abstraction. No Caine being a threat. Just him and his lover.
But … all of that could happen. Disappearing Guy pulled away so he could mimic writing in the air, silently asking for his notebook and pen.
Ming nodded and reached over to the nightstand. He grabbed Disappearing Guy’s preferred method of communication and handed it to him.
”I dreamt that Caine found out,” Disappearing Guy wrote.
”Oh, [BLEEP],” Ming replied, heart dropping a little.
”And he tried to get rid of me because of it,” Disappearing Guy continued. “I thought I was going to be trapped in the void as nothing but an abstraction. It hurt so much and I thought I was never going to see you again.” If he had tear ducts, Disappearing Guy would absolutely be tearing up right now.
Ming pulled Disappearing Guy into another hug. “It’s okay, we’re with each other now,” he murmured. “Of course, I can’t assume he’ll never find out, but I can promise we will do whatever it takes to keep it under wraps. I mean, we figured out that our rooms are the one place where we have complete privacy, so long as the door is closed. There is no way Caine will know about us. Or what we did last night.”
Disappearing Guy blushed at the mention of “last night” aka their first time. Both of them were nervous, yet it was amazing. The main source of nervousness was Caine finding out. That must have been where the nightmare came from. But he knew Ming was right. It helped hearing the facts out loud and he felt himself calm down.
Ming laid back down, pulling Disappearing Guy down on top of him, holding him close. The red mannequin signed a “thank you” and snuggled up. He had recently decided to start learning sign language so he wouldn’t have to keep writing everything down. And so that there would be less physical evidence to keep hidden.
”You’re welcome,” Ming murmured. “We’re going to be okay.” That was not even an assumption. Ming knew they would be, at least for now. And if they did get found out, then they would face it together as the team they are.
Disappearing Guy shifted in Ming’s hold to grab the notebook again. “I’m just scared that one day l won’t be able to come back for you like I promised.”
”If you ever do disappear with no way to come back, I will at least know where to start looking,” Ming said. “You uphold your promise each time without fail. I will know something is wrong if that changes and I will do what it takes to find you again,” he promised.
Disappearing Guy nodded and gave Ming a soft kiss. “I love you, Ming,” he signed.
”I love you, too, Disappearing Guy,” Ming replied.