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It was dark outside. Night shrouded the sky, the blue sky in the day now carrying a midnight black hue. The moon lit up, almost as brightly as the sun, in the sky. A bunch of stars that looked so tiny littered about.
It was beautiful and peaceful. It was a shame that most didn’t get to see the beautiful sight often. Too preoccupied with getting enough sleep to pass the day. Tonight especially the moon seemed to shine brighter than normal.
The clock on the wall showed it was midnight. Well, more exactly it was 00:32.
The Soul was up at a time like this. Not really a rarity. He just either simply wasn’t tired, or… well, nightmares suck. They especially suck when it is the past coming to haunt him.
He sat in the kitchen. It was dark and hard to see anything, although The Soul just didn’t feel like turning on the lights. He was unsure of what he was doing here. Usually when he was awake these midnight hours, he would stay in his room. Sometimes, albeit not often, he would sit in the living room.
Currently he just sat in a chair in the kitchen. Occasionally sipping his Monster Energy, but otherwise doing nothing.
The Soul looked out the window outside. The aforementioned beautiful night sky could be seen there. Still, unchanging. However it only appeared that way as it was dark and hard to see.
He heard footsteps out in the hall, soft and gentle. The Soul immediately knew who it was.
The Mind always slept before night could truly begin. He claims it’s because he needs to keep his brain sharp and sleeping helps with that. It is probably true. The Soul isn’t the logical side so how should he know?
The opposite is with The Heart. He sleeps the morning off and is awake during the night. But alas, the day is longer than the night. Sometimes that means he will just stay in his room the whole day.
That’s why he knew immediately that those footsteps belonged to The Heart. And he was right as the emotional side came in through the kitchen door. It was hard to see, but from what The Host could gather he looked peaceful for once. Wings tucked in and relaxed posture.
It isn’t the first time he sees the other in the middle of the night. At the start of these loops, he would sometimes even hang out with The Heart.
Now? Now he always looked uncomfortable spending more than an hour with The Soul alone.
He figured it would be better announcing his presence now than jumpscaring The Heart with it later. “Hey Heart, it’s me Soul.”
He tensed and The Soul cringed. Yeah, he should’ve expected that reaction from The Moon. He had been more on guard since the whole shooting, unlovingly dubbed The Juno Incident.
He hated how that incident only seemed to cause more cacophony and distance between The Heart and The Mind. By extent also between him and The Heart aswell.
The Soul cleared those thoughts out of his head. No use thinking of the past…
He deserves to feel the guilt for what he has done.
“Oh, hey Soul..” The Heart responded.
“You’re here for something to eat? Mocha?” The Soul asked.
“Mm, mocha please.”
He nodded. “I’ll get that for ya.” He sat up from his seat and The Heart went to sit down himself. He turned on the light for the simple reason that this room was too dark to make coffee in. Than The Soul turned and saw–
Those deep pits of flesh and scars instead of those familiar eyes. Around those were the scars that his trident caused.
He stood there, staring at Juno for a good minute. It seems the other realized what he was missing as he went to his pocket and pulled out his blindfold. There he tied it around his face, obscuring the place his eyes used to be and most of the scars with an uncomfortable expression.
The Soul forced himself to move on and ignore it. Instead going over to the coffee machine and making The Heart coffee. Adding the chocolate syrup first before blending the coffee beans. For some reason the machine seemed louder this night than usual.
He didn’t particularly want The Mind to wake up and lecture him about having a “healthy sleep schedule”. That just sounded annoying.
After a bit of pouring and some milk added in, he gave The Heart his mocha. The Soul contemplated leaving the kitchen, but instead after a moment's hesitation he sat on a chair across The Moon.
He drank his energy drink while The Heart sipped his mocha. It was an awkward silence. But then The Soul broke it. “..Hey, Heart? I am sorry–”
“I know.” The Heart interrupted him snippily. “You’ve said so many times.”
It was true. Every once in a while he would apologize for what happened that day, and the consecutive days afterwards. No apology made the guilt go away, no apology gave The Heart back his eyes.
He never said that he forgave The Soul. And he didn’t doubt he would never earn the emotional side’s forgiveness. At least The Heart doesn’t actively despise him like he does The Mind?
“Yeah, still figured I should say it.” He shrugged, glancing away from him. Another period of silence. “I don’t know if this means much now… but I swear I will never use such a permanent punishment again.”
The Soul couldn’t promise never to punish the two. Eventually, no matter how hard he tries, they will eventually argue and blood will be drawn. Always. He doesn’t like to punish them, but he is the mediator. Someone has to keep those two in line.
The Host glanced back at The Heart. Pursed lips and some skepticism. “Mm, sure.” He said, clearly disbelieving.
The Soul could only sigh, he brought this upon himself after all.
But to lighten the mood, he asked: “Hey, wanna try some of my Monster?”
“Ew, no. Last time I did it tasted horribly!”
“C’mon, you are just exaggerating! Just try it again, please? I’ll only ask once.”
“I don’t exaggerate–Okay, whatever, fine.” The Heart relented finally. Victory.
The Soul scooted his can over to The Moon. He grabbed the can, already seeming to regret his life choices. Hesitant expression and the way he sat, ‘staring’ at where the can was. Then after a bit took a sip…
Only to slam the can down and take a huge drink of his mocha. A slightly loud bang rang through.
The Soul rolled his eyes. “Oh c’mon. It’s great!”
The Heart would’ve snorted, if he wasn’t trying to actively try to drown out the flavour on his tongue with his own drink. “It’s shit Soul. How can you drink this crap? It’s way too sweet and tastes like fucking metal.”
“You drink glorified hot chocolate, you can’t judge me.”
The Heart finally set his drink down and groaned. “First, mocha and hot chocolate are completely different! Second, yes I can. Third, you’re just a loser who doesn’t like chocolate.”
That’s because chocolate is ass, either way too bitter or it just tastes bad.
After a moment of consideration, The Soul grinned, “Okay, agree to disagree. BUT, can we agree that The Mind has the worst taste?”
“Duh, of course we can. Who sane person drinks black coffee?”
“Agreed.”
Afterwards there was more silence. But this time, the silence was more comfortable than awkward. Successfully the mood has been lifted, at least a little.
The two of them sat for a while. Drinking their respective drinks and simply existing in eachother's company. The Soul could almost forget their previous conversation and just exist.
Eventually The Heart excused himself into his room, The Host watching him go in. Just a few minutes afterwards he went into his own room aswell.
After a couple of minutes laying onto his bed, he managed to actually fall asleep. Even better, it was a dreamless sleep.
Whole time the moon outside seemed to shine brighter than usual.