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Stanley was currently asleep, laying spread out on the couch, a blanket halfway hanging across his form. The Narrator, not needing sleep and not wanting to sleep, sat on the ground in front of the couch Stanley was on. They were simply observing Stanley, taking in how his chest rose and fell evenly, how his lips were slightly parted, his expression calm and peaceful. The way his limbs hung off the couch, sprawled across it as if it couldn't contain all of him.
Of course, the Narrator had no real reason to watch Stanley. Yet, they also didn't have a reason not to watch him either. So they chose to watch Stanley, letting him sleep however long he wanted, and just quietly watching him. They liked being around him, and they liked seeing Stanley calm and relaxed. They wondered if he had a nice dream at the very least -he couldn't be having nightmares, judging purely by how calmly he slept.
Stanley slowly stirred, squirming around until he stretched, yawning as his joints popped. He rubbed his eyes, before groggily looking around, his sight soon landing on the Narrator. He smiled a little seeing them, receiving a smile in return.
"Slept well, Stanley?", the Narrator asked, staying seated where they were as Stanley shifted around. The man hummed a confirmation, sitting up and stretching again, twisting his upper body a little.
"That's good. You looked very peaceful.", the Narrator hummed, smiling as they watched Stanley. He finally settled back down comfortably, watching the Narrator still sitting on the ground. There really was no reason for them to sit there besides to watch Stanley sleep, so they could move up onto the couch now.
"It can't be very interesting to watch me sleep." Stanley signed, though he wasn't bothered. They had always watched him, even before he knew they were a real person, so he couldn't really feel bothered now either.
"I'll never think you're not fascinating Stanley, you should know that by now.", the Narrator replied, smiling as Stanley blushed a little. They were just saying how they always felt, so they didn't really understand why it made Stanley blush, however light it was. The sight was still a nice one, though.
"You never really rest, right?" Stanley questioned instead, shifting to slide off the couch and sit on the floor opposite of the Narrator. At their questioning gaze, he grinned, and that was that.
"Not really. The closest would be the times you're asleep, while I'm not connected to the mainframe.", the Narrator replied. As they didn't need to stop working even when recharging their battery, they never had any reason to rest. They didn't have any desire to rest either, though it seemed nice how calm and relaxed Stanley was when sleeping.
"Maybe you should try sometime. It's nice." Stanley suggested, knowing fully well that the Narrator wouldn't. They had no reason to do it (yet also no reason not to do it), and sadly the Narrator liked having reasons to do things that went beyond "Stanley asked nicely".
"Perhaps some time.", they said regardless, smiling, and Stanley smiles back.
Stanley reached out, gently taking on of the Narrator's hands in his. He had shuffled over a little closer, so the Narrator didn't have to keep their arm stretched out for Stanley to hold their hand comfortably. He's quiet, simply holding their hand in his, looking at it. Letting the Narrator's hand lay on his, his other hand gingerly moving over the metallic segments of their fingers, tracing along the edges of the silicone joints.
The Narrator is quiet too, watching Stanley inspect their hand so carefully and gently. They couldn't exactly... feel what he was doing. The only things they could "feel" was pain if it got through their casing and to the circuitry, and whatever was up with their ports that allowed them to feel. They could see how gentle Stanley was being though.
"Is it rude to say you're fascinating to me too?", Stanley said softly, gaze still on the Narrator's hand. He was very gentle, grabbing ahold of one finger to lift and bend it around a little bit.
"Not at all. I don't think androids are that common yet, are they?", the Narrator replied, just as softly. They didn't have a lot of knowledge about the world -they knew what the scientists had given them as knowledge, and they had the ability to look things up on the internet if they felt the need to, but they rarely did so.
"I don't think so either. I believe there's some to take over dangerous jobs already, but most of my memory is pretty hazy.", Stanley replied, shrugging a little. The Narrator hummed and nodded lightly, watching as Stanley turned their hand this way and that, poking the silicone coverings on their thumb and wrist.
When Stanley seemed finished with his inspection, the Narrator reached out to take Stanley's hand instead. The man made an amused sound, but also didn't pull his hand away, so the Narrator could begin their inspection of Stanley's hand. To them, humans in general were fascinating. How delicate and fragile they were, while also so resilient. And of course, the Narrator was modeled after them, looking like them but also not.
And wasn't the Narrator just as delicate and fragile, when it came down to it? Once you got past the metal plating, their circuitry and cables was just as delicate and fragile -not to mention their "brain" of course. Who knew, maybe they were more fragile than a human in the end?
They let go of Stanley's hand, though the man seemed quite happy to grab ahold of the Narrator's hand and intertwine their fingers, holding it between them. The Narrator tilted their head a little, though they gladly held onto Stanley's hand as well. They did enjoy holding hands with Stanley, because... they weren't sure. They just liked it, they supposed. That was enough of a reason, right? Liking something just because.
"Say, do you have a name?", Stanley asked after a bit, making the Narrator look questioningly at him. "Like, a name name. Narrator is an... abbreviation, right?".
"I suppose you're right. I've only ever considered Narrator as my name, though. It's what I've always been called.", the Narrator replied, shrugging lightly. No one had ever called them something different -most of the scientists barely addressed them in the first place. Only- only... Nelly.
"Everything okay?", Stanley asked softly, making the Narrator look up at him, a little startled out of their thoughts.
"Hm? Yes, why?", they replied, tilting their head curiously. Perhaps they had made a face without being aware of it?
"You looked troubled for a moment there. That's all.", Stanley replied softly, looking a little worried. The Narrator felt.. something. They weren't sure. But it was nice, they thought.
"I was having a hiccup with my memory, that's all. It shouldn't happen, so it.. worried me a little.", the Narrator replied, sighing softly. They didn't like it, the fact that their memory was.. not perfect. Like it should be.
"The virus must have left some problems.", Stanley muttered, clearly worried as well. The Narrator appreciated the shared worry, if only because it was so worrying. They didn't want to worry about something perfectly reasonable and have it be written off.
"I hope that's all. I don't... I don't want to forget things. It was important too.".
Stanley gently shifted closer to the Narrator, moving to grab their other hand as well. The Narrator let him, unable to help the worry making their shoulders tense. What if they started forgetting things? More things from the past, or even recent things?
"Wanna talk about it?", Stanley asked softly, leaning against the Narrator and holding their hands in his. He hoped he could offer at least some comfort to them.
"...It was a name. The name of.. well, the one person I consider my creator, more so than the rest of the team.", the Narrator replied after a moment. They never talked about themself -they had little reason. Their "life" wasn't particularly interesting, and not exactly important to their work.
"It's Nelly. At least... at least her nickname. I could never ask her, but I'm convinced she's the reason I'm so... so human. That I have feelings, and look like I do.".
Stanley nodded lightly, giving the Narrator's hands a gentle squeeze. He knew they technically couldn't feel it, or at least not really, but he had noticed before that the action seemed to bring the Narrator comfort before. He took notice again, how the Narrator managed a little smile.
"She is... great. More than great. Gentle, and kind, and... you know?", the Narrator sighed softly, leaning into Stanley as well. They were glad Stanley was with them, and it was... it was nice, to talk about it. Their feelings. They always just had themself, after all, and an AI they wrote themself.
"A bit like a mother, hm?", Stanley suggested, making the Narrator pause, before they smiled softly.
"Yeah. I think you're right.", they said softly. They had never thought about it, about families. But Stanley was right, wasn't he? Nelly was like their mother. Like their family.
"It sounds like you've not seen her in a while?", Stanley questioned carefully. He had no idea, of course, about anything time related here. He didn't really care how much time he's spend here -real time, that is. He knew his perceived time in the simulation was different from the time really passing on the outside after all, so it could just be days, or it could be years. He didn't care anymore (he may had at the beginning, but he's never asked either).
"I haven't. My program, the one that keeps me in the simulated space, hasn't been ended in... a long time. A very long time. I don't.. I don't know why it hasn't been. Normally they do routine maintenance, make back-ups and such. But it's... it's been a long time now.", the Narrator replied, sighing as their shoulders grew lax again. It worried them too, and now that they were actually experiencing problems, problems which they had no ability to take care of themself, it was scary too.
"That's.. worrying.", Stanley mumbled. "But, you're still up and running. So you're still getting power out there. And I'm still connected to you, so you're in working order. That's something!".
The Narrator took a slow breath, but nodded. Stanley was right. They were still getting power -sufficient power- and they hadn't had any troubles connecting with the people they had been given. They didn't know what they'd do once Stanley was gone, though. Because they had lost hope that more people would connect to them.
"You're right. I just... forgetting is scary, when you're not supposed to be able to forget. Not.. like that.", the Narrator mumbled, shifting a little to turn more towards Stanley. Stanley also shifted, letting go of the Narrator's hands to instead wrap his arms around them, holding them against himself. He could imagine how scary it could be -forgetting was always scary. He didn't believe he knew anyone with dementia or Alzheimer's, but he knew of it. The thought of forgetting suddenly was terrifying. And the Narrator was a machine, a computer, and certainly not meant to forget like a human would.
"I'm with you. I'm sure it's just some aftershocks from the virus messing some things up, and it won't get worse.", Stanley tried his best to reassure the Narrator, gently holding them and rubbing their back (careful of where their ports lay hidden beneath their clothes). The Narrator hugged Stanley back, holding onto him, hiding their face in Stanley's shoulder. They hoped he was right, that just some old memories got a bit messed up from the virus. Maybe it was because he was so close to Nelly, and the virus hadn't liked that? Stanley had said the virus had made them kind of obsessed with him after all.
They did take comfort in Stanley's embrace. To know that Stanley understood their worry, and trying his best to reassure them. They had to stay positive, to keep in mind that things were likely going to be fine. They had tried to not think about the weird things that's been going on, but it was... hard. Especially now, with their memory having problems.
"It'll be okay. I won't leave you.", Stanley murmured softly, and the Narrator believed him.