"Look at you, truly relaxing now" Joey said to Inv, back in his ball-like position on Inv's upper chest.
Inv didn't know what Joey meant, but he did feel more relaxed now that he didn't have to put conscious effort to look up at Joey.
"Mhm… me rlax"
…
Inv felt content at the moment, as if what happened earlier didn't happen at all…
…
…
…
"Well Inv… you wanna hear it?"
…
Inv knew what Joey was talking about. How Joey said that he wasn't a slugcat…
…
"Y-ye… i stil don understand y u sad dat"
"I'll… try to explain Inv. it will probably be a bit confusing though…"
Inv was used to confusing. Ever since meeting Joey only confusing things have happened. But Inv trusted Joey. So Inv waited for Joey to start explaining.
…
…
…
"Ok… so there's really no good place to start so… I'll just start with a question"
…
"What happens when you die Inv?" Inv was completely caught off guard from this question, why would Joey suddenly ask this?
"It's just a question Inv, we both know what dying is like…"
…
Inv wasn't sure why Joey started it like this, but he still answered.
"Wel… um… i stap hurting… i fel noting… i se onl black… an den i wak up en a sheler?" Inv slowly recapped what it's like when he dies. A cycle he has grown very used to.
"Mhm… when we… die. We always come back. Waking up where we last slept, right?"
"Y-ye?" Inv agreed with Joey. This is exactly how death works. When you die, you wake back up. Isn't that what it's always like?
"Well…"
…
"What if you didn't wake up?"
…?
Inv didn't know why. But he felt a creeping sense of dread hearing Joey say that.
"W-wa du u meen Joey?"
"What if you died, and didn't wake up Inv?"
"I… i don kno?" Inv was growing a bit anxious hearing Joey talk like this.
"Mhm… you wouldn't know. Because you truly died. No more thoughts. No more thinking. Just nothing…"
"J-joey?" Inv shakily said. Starting to worry about what Joey was talking about.
"It's ok Inv. I'm not trying to worry you by saying this. I'm not going anywhere. I just wanted you to understand what I'm about to say next" Joey gently said to Inv, although still confused, Inv calmed down slightly from Joey's reassurance.
"O-ok…"
…
"So uhh… a long time ago. I lived somewhere very far away. Someplace so far, we might never reach if we wanted to"
Hearing Joey say this, Inv's earlier dread was quickly pushed away. Replaced with anticipation about learning Joey's past.
"Back then, I wasn't a slugcat. None of the creatures that exist here didn't exist where I come from. Back then… I was something called a Human"
"Hooman?"
"Pfft! Yeah! A human… that's what I was…"
…
"They uhh… are kinda like a slugcat actually. But only the basic parts like standing on 2 legs and having 2 arms. They didnt have fur but only skin with something called hair. Didn't have tails either. I can show you a better example later but basically. I was a human. Not a slugcat"
Listening to Joey's rather weird explanation. Inv wasn't sure how to feel. If Joey wasn't a slugcat but this thing called a human… Then why was Joey a slugcat?
"I already know what you want to ask Inv. Why do I look like a slugcat?" Joey looked down with a sly smile. Completely knowing what Inv wanted to ask somehow…
"Y-ye… ef u wer a hooman… den y du u lok lik a slugcat?" Inv asked, wanting to know.
"I'm getting there Inv… but before that I gotta tell you why I started this convo with that question earlier"
Inv remembered Joey talking about death. Still confused on why he asked that question.
"The place I came from, where I was a human… death worked differently. If you died… you stayed dead"
…
"H-huh?" Inv couldn't comprehend this. That didn't make sense. That is not how death worked. When you died you always come bac-
"When you die. You died. No second chances. No waking back up… nothing. That's how death worked where I came from Inv…"
…
…
…
In the quiet, Inv slowly pierced together what Joey was saying. About death…
…
And a creeping realization dawned on Inv. a sinking feeling spreading in Inv's stomach from the thought… the thought of Joey dying…
…
And never coming back.
But that didn't make sense! Joey was right here! Living! Breathing! Inv could feel the heat radiating from Joey! So why was he saying this?
"Yeah… this is the confusing part cause I don't really understand it myself…"
…
"I can't really remember it but… one night I was leaving somewhere. I forgot where it was, but I think I was trying to walk back home? I was walking on a sidewalk next to a road…"
Inv heard words he didn't understand, but he didn't stop Joey from speaking.
"I don't remember exactly what I was doing… all I remember was just walking forward before I saw a bright light approaching behind me very quickly… I couldn't even turn around before I felt something hit me really hard…"
…
"I felt a huge burst of pain for a moment… then nothing. The only thing I truly remembered was how the only thing I saw in my vision was pure white…"
…
Even though Inv couldn't understand some of the words Joey said during that… he did understand one thing… Joey died.
Inv had many times where his vision suddenly blacked out to waking back up in a shelter. Not even knowing how he died… but that was strange… Did Joey say his vision turned to white? Inv was used to seeing pitch black when he died…
"But uhh… that's how I died as a human. One moment I was just walking and then bam. I'm dead. Kinda anti-climatic but that's just life I guess…"