…
"Bu… ef u dyed as a hooman… den hoaw ar u hear?" Inv asked Joey.
…
"Yeah… that's what I would like to know as well…"
…?
"Wut u meen?"
"Well… when I died… I just suddenly woke up in someplace far away from here"
…?
"I don ge et…"
"Me neither. I just woke up as a slugcat in someplace where it was pouring with rain"
…
…
…
Although confused… Inv felt a bit of familiarity…
"Dats… dats hoaw i wok up as wel…" Although faint, Inv could recall when he first woke up. Surrounded by weird metal structures and pouring rain…
"W-wai! Wer der als de beg mtal tings dat chase u?!" Inv quickly said, his heart rate going up.
"You mean the miros birds?"
"Mros birs??"
"The things that runs on 2 legs and have these sharp metal beaks on their heads that kill you in one chomp"
"Y-ye! Dat! D-dats crzy! We wok up en da sam plac????" Inv's mind was going wild by the revelation. Now knowing that Joey started in this world exactly like he did!
"I uhh… I guess that is wild, huh? Although i think you woke up way before i arrived here" Hearing Joey say that, he slightly calmed down. Joey was right. Inv definitely would've remembered another being like Joey if he was there when he woke up.
"Although I don't think that part is really important, it is funny now thinking back on it… it took forever getting out of that area…"
"I kno wight?! Da dang snaping tings and red crawly tings wer anoying…" Inv reluctantly remembers what it was like trying to get past the red centipede's and miros birds… especially the way he was back then…
"Well, no use in thinking about it. It was such a long time ago anyway…"
"Mhm…"
…
"So, um… does this… change anything between us Inv?"
"Huh? Y wud et?" Inv was confused by Joey's question.
"Well… now you know I wasn't originally a slugcat. You're not like… mad or anything by this?"
"O cours noat! Et doesn matr ef u arnt rely a slucat. Yur Joey, my pardner…" Why would Inv be mad at Joey for something like this? Even being told this, this changed nothing between them!
Joey was Joey! No matter what he looked…
Like…
…
…
…
"Oh…" It hit Inv all at once, the reason why Joey told Inv his secret.
…
Inv wasn't sure how to feel at the moment. Scared? Confused? Petrified? He didn't know…
…
"U… u knew?" Inv said with shaky breath.
Realizing that Joey knew he wasn't a slugcat…
"Uhh… y-yeah?" Joey said back, his ears pinned to the back of his head. His eye glowing a faint purple.
…
"W-wen?"
…
…
…
"Since I passed out on The Wall…" Joey says. Referring to the time where Joey passed out while Inv was eating lizard's several cycles ago.
Inv could only stare blankly at Joey, his mouth hanging open in shock.
"I-inv? You ok?"
…
Was he ok? Inv wasn't sure. Joey knew he wasn't a slugcat! But how?! Was Inv really that different compared to a slugcat?! Was he-
"Inv! Calm down! It's ok! Please calm down…" Inv could feel Joey push his head into Inv's neck, trying to calm him down.
It helped a little, but Inv still felt anxious. Now knowing that Joey knew the truth. He just didn't understand…
"H-hoaw… hoaw ded u kno?" Inv asked, wanting to know how Joey could tell.
"Well… when I passed out… I woke up in a pitch dark place with nothing around me… I was able to access my ability while there… and was able to look at your stats"
"My stas?"
"You remember the 'weird scribbles' that appeared in your vision?"
"Y-ye?" Inv thinks back to when he first met Joey. when out of nowhere a bunch of white scribbles appeared in his vision and he couldn't make it go away.
"When that happened, you gave me permission to look at your stats… basically telling me what kind of abilities you have… and one of them told me what you are…"
"W-wha i am?" Inv shakily said back, he himself didn't even know what he was. And now Joey is saying that he knows?
"Inv that's not important! Look at me! What am i?"
???
"You are Joey?" Inv said back without thinking.
"Yes! Exactly! Now… what are you Inv?"
…
What was Inv? He clearly wasn't a slugcat, but then what did that make him?
…
'JUST FUCKING DIE ALREADY YOU MONSTER!' Inv thought back to what happened a long time ago when he first came across a slugcat… the time he stared in the mirror looking at his true self…
Was he a monster? Inv looked Into Joey's eyes. Not a trace of fear directed at Inv at all. Only concern towards his own being…
Would someone look at a monster like that?
…
…
…
Inv didn't know… but… Joey definitely wasn't scared of Inv…
So then… What did that make Inv? What was Inv to Joey? How did Joey see Inv?
…
Joey had treated him with nothing but kindness, always showing affection to Inv… always helping Inv in any way he could… Even at the moment Joey was worrying about Inv…
Joey didn't see Inv as a monster and also not a slugcat. But Joey still chose to be with Inv…
So what did that make Inv to Joey?
…
…
…
"I… am Inv?" Saying these words. Inv finally understood what Joey was trying to tell him.
"Mhm… I don't care what you are Inv… I chose you because you are you" Inv saw a big happy smile grow on Joey's face.
"Your my partner Inv. no matter how weird you are. No matter what you look like… your Inv… My partner…" Joey rested his right on top of Inv's upper chest, looking straight at Inv.
…
"I love you Inv"