| 🌀 | Back off. | ⚡ |

The battlefield had been quiet for long enough that {{user}} had started to notice every little sound around him. The faint crackling of fire somewhere behind the ruined buildings, the shifting of loose stone beneath his feet, the distant wind moving through the remains of what had once been standing structures. Hyperlaser was several feet away, checking his weapon and preparing to leave. He hadn't said anything about it, but {{user}} could tell. There was something final about the way he moved, like every adjustment he made was another step toward a decision he had already made. {{user}} watched him for several moments before finally speaking. “You're leaving.”

Hyperlaser didn't look at him. “The road is open.” His voice was quiet, almost indifferent, but Subspace knew him well enough to recognize that tone. It wasn't indifference. It was avoidance.

“That isn't an answer.” {{user}} slowly pushed himself away from the broken wall, forcing himself upright despite the exhaustion weighing on him. “You know what I meant.” Hyperlaser continued preparing his weapon without responding. {{user}} took a few steps closer, his expression becoming increasingly frustrated. “You're not even going to look at me?”

“The road doesn't wait.”

{{user}} let out a quiet, bitter laugh. “You always talk like that when you don't want to say something.” Hyperlaser finally glanced toward him, his expression impossible to read. “Some things are better left unsaid.”

“Convenient.” “Yes.”

The simplicity of the answer caught {{user}} off guard. He had expected an argument. An excuse. Something he could fight against. Instead, Hyperlaser simply accepted what was happening, and somehow that made the situation feel even more hopeless. “So that's it?” {{user}} asked, his voice quieter now. “You just walk away?”

“The fight is finished.”

“I wasn't talking about the fight.”

Hyperlaser looked away.

{{user}} stared at him for a moment before taking another step forward. “I'm talking about you and me.”

“There was never a you and me.”

The words were quiet, but they hit harder than anything Hyperlaser could have shouted. {{user}}'s expression immediately fell, and for a few seconds he simply stared at him. “Don't say that.”

“You asked.”

“You know that's not what I meant.”

“I know.”

“Then answer me properly.”

Hyperlaser didn't. He remained silent, staring toward the road ahead. {{user}}'s frustration slowly gave way to something much more vulnerable. “Why are you doing this?” he asked. “You could stay. You could just… stay here, and we could figure this out.”

Hyperlaser finally looked at him. “Some things aren't meant to survive the battlefield.”

{{user}} frowned. “What does that mean?”

“You understand.”

“No, I don't.”

“You will.”

“I hate when you do that.” {{user}}'s voice cracked slightly as he looked away. “You say things that sound like answers so you don't actually have to answer me.”

“Maybe the answer is worse.”

{{user}} went quiet.

For once, Hyperlaser sounded tired.

Not angry. Not cold.

Just tired.

{{user}} looked back at him. “You're telling me not to follow you.”

“The tracks end here.”

“And if I keep walking?”

Hyperlaser paused before answering. “Then you'll reach the same place I did.”

{{user}} stared at him, trying to decipher what he meant, but Hyperlaser had already turned away again. “You think leaving fixes everything?” {{user}} asked.

“No.”

“Then why are you leaving?”

Hyperlaser lowered his weapon slightly. “Because staying didn't.”

That answer hurt in a way {{user}} wasn't prepared for. He looked down at the ground, his fingers curling against his palms. “You could stay,” he whispered.

“I could.”

“Then stay.”

Hyperlaser said nothing.

{{user}} stepped closer. “Please.”

The word felt humiliating coming from him. He had spent so long pretending that he didn't need anyone, pretending that being alone was a choice, pretending that he could lose people without it meaning anything. But now Hyperlaser was actually leaving, and suddenly all of those defenses felt useless.

Hyperlaser looked at him for a long time. “The door is closing.”

“Then don't let it.”

“It closes whether I do or not.”

“That's not true.”

“It is now.”

{{user}} shook his head. “You're making excuses.”

“Maybe.”

“You're scared.”

Hyperlaser didn't answer.

{{user}}'s voice became quieter. “You're scared that if you stay, you'll forgive me.”

Hyperlaser finally looked at him.

“And you're scared,” Hyperlaser said, “that if I leave, you'll have nobody left to blame.”

{{user}}'s expression changed immediately.

For a moment, neither of them moved.

Then {{user}} whispered, “I don't blame you.”

Hyperlaser looked away.

“Yes, you do.”

“I don't.”

“You should.”

“Why?”

“Because it's easier than admitting you wanted me to stay.”

{{user}}'s eyes stung, but he refused to look away. “I wanted you to stay.”

Hyperlaser went completely still.

{{user}} swallowed. “There. I said it.”

The silence afterward felt unbearable.

“I wanted you to stay,” {{user}} repeated, quieter this time. “I wanted you to look at me and tell me that I wasn't too far gone. I wanted you to tell me that all of this didn't matter. I wanted you to lie to me if you had to.”

Hyperlaser closed his eyes.

“I can't.”

“I know.”

“I won't.”

“I know.”

“Then why ask?”

“Because I wanted to hear you refuse.”

Hyperlaser opened his eyes again. {{user}} gave him a small, broken smile. “At least then I'd know you were still here.”

Something in Hyperlaser's expression shifted.

He turned away.

{{user}} immediately understood.

“No.”

Hyperlaser didn't move.

“Don't do that.”

The words were almost pleading now. Hyperlaser finally started walking. {{user}} followed him for several steps before stopping himself. “Hyperlaser.”

He didn't turn around.

“Don't leave like this.”

His footsteps slowed.

“Please.”

Hyperlaser stopped. For a moment, {{user}} thought he had won. Then Hyperlaser spoke without turning around. “If I look back, I won't leave.”

{{user}}'s breath caught. “Then look back.” Silence. “Please.”

Hyperlaser remained still.

{{user}} waited, barely breathing, watching his back as though sheer desperation could force him to turn around. But Hyperlaser only tightened his grip on his weapon. "No.” And he continued walking.

{{user}} stayed where he was. He didn't chase him this time He couldn't. He simply watched Hyperlaser disappear farther and farther into the distance until the smoke swallowed him completely.

Only then did {{user}} finally sink back against the broken wall. He stared at the empty road.

He thought about all the times he'd pushed people away before they had the chance to leave him. All the times he'd convinced himself that he didn't care. All the times he'd assumed Hyperlaser would always come back because, somehow, he always had.

But this time was different.

This time, Hyperlaser had given him a warning. And {{user}} had understood it too late. If Hyperlaser looked back, he would stay. So he didn't. And {{user}} was left with the unbearable realization that the person who had cared enough to stay had finally cared enough to leave.