I just recently got into Ib, thanks to Pewdiepie's hilarious walkthroughs, and I'm a sucker for pairings like this. Also I wanted to test out the new copy and paste feature on the site so I can write and publish from my iPad. Garry is a sweetheart. This is just a short tidbit. That is all.
The nightmare that had engulfed the little girl only moments after collapsing to the floor with a mixture of fatigue and too much adrenaline getting into her small body was violent and... red. Red swirls around her, red swirls above her, just generally the colour splashed around the otherwise plain-looking room she seemed to have gotten herself in. It all seemed too realistic to be a mere nightmare.
That was the most frightening thing about it.
Ib advanced into the next room with more caution than usual. Even though the museum was terrifying and dangerous, she was in her own mind now, and the mind wasn't always a positive thing. Some peoples minds betrayed them, like the people she had seen on television with mental illnesses. Some of the people she'd seen were even her own age, and younger.
The fact that the mind was not to be trusted in some cases lingered as she continued on through the nightmarish world, which was still far too remarkably similar to the 'real' world she had found herself stuck in.
Without Garry there, it seemed much more intimidating and terrifying to be wandering through aimless, plain as day rooms that held eerie presences. She was just nine years old, after all, and her parents had always dismissed her off as someone who constantly needed to be looked after. It was a leap of faith that they'd even allowed her to look around the museum herself, before it all... happened.
The second room was even creepier than the first she had ended up in. There was the distant but loud sound of the ticking of a large clock (she presumed it was large considering the noise it was making) surrounding her. Every which way she turned, it still sounded the same.
And then there was the pounding noise coming from behind her, following her maybe, of something coming her way. Ib resisted the urge to scream out for Garry. She had made it some of the way through the museum by herself, so she could certainly handle herself in a desolate room, but as the ticking grew louder and her hand reached for the cold doorknob in front of her, that sense of fright tingled through her.
It was all for the right reasons.
She found herself stuck between three, well, monsters as Garry had branded them. To the left was a blue headless mannequin, to the right of her was the mannequin's head, a clone of the one Garry had kicked and broke out of frustration, and to the front of her was one of those crawling portraits with the woman hanging out of the frame.
She was stuck. She was going to be dead. There was no way her rose would survive three of these... things all launching at her at the same time. Except time itself slowed down in front of her. They had her surrounded and the door behind her had locked itself upon entering.
For a brief, flying moment, Ib wondered what death felt like. But that feeling she imagined never came.
Tick-tock.
Ib shot up, eyes wide and fully awake. So it had just been a nightmare. She looked around and examined the room; there was a mirror, some bookcases. Just another plain old room of the museum.
She wished that she had woken up at home, in her bed with the silk duvet, and that the nightmare had been this whole situation itself and not just some fantasy world in her head that was just as bad.
But she felt warmth beneath her and around her and looked downwards for a second to see that Garry had put his coat over her when she had passed out. A smile came across her features, and she gently fingered the fur lining on the hood. They barely knew each other, yet already he cared for her.
"Ah," Garry said, as if on cue, coming over to her and kneeling in front of her, smiling brightly. She returned the smile, pleased to see a friendly face such as his, constantly warm and soft. "Morning, Ib. How are you feeling?"
Ib wanted to be truthful. She didn't want to say she just felt 'fine'. Her parents had always told her to be honest about things, and Garry was her friend.
"I had a nightmare," she whispered in reply, barely audible. Garry's smile turned into an endearing frown, his hand patting the end of his coat absently.
"I see... you poor thing," he said quietly, with sympathy. "I can't say I'm surprised..." He exhaled a bit and looked down, "Being exposed to such frightful sights... you know?" She nodded a bit, looking down as well. He looked back at her, continuing, "I guess it's good you woke up. I'm sorry I didn't notice earlier..." It wasn't his fault. She looked to him with a sad expression.
Suddenly, he perked up a bit, "Ib, would you take a look in the pocket of that coat?" His affectionate smile returned, and he patted the coat once more. Ib looked down to the pocket and slowly fished inside of it with her small hands, feeling her fingers brush against something. She grasped the object and pulled it out, and to her surprise it was a piece of candy. She looked at him patiently, to which he simply smiled even wider.
"You can have that," he explained, nodding a bit. "Feel free to eat it." Immediately Ib recognised the low and silent growl in her stomach, and realised how peckish she really was. Slowly unfolding the wrapper, she popped it into her mouth and relished in the taste. It was sweet, like a blueberry. Garry went on, straightening himself up. "Let's rest here a while longer, before we set out again."
He moved back around to the bookcase he had been inspecting before, whilst Ib crumpled up the wrapper in her hand and held onto it. She wasn't one to litter, even in such a twisted place. She shuffled out of the coat as gently as possible, moving it to the side as if it were a precious treasure.
Even as the taste of blueberries swirling around in her mouth died out, and she swallowed the much-needed appetiser, she could not get rid of the bubbly, familiar feeling of happiness in her stomach. Looking to Garry, it only fizzed up more inside of her. Garry noticed her looking at him, and flashed another friendly smile at her.
Ib smiled straight back. The wrapper in her hand felt strangely soft. The feeling in her stomach was nothing less than pleasurable.
Even in such a hellish place, she had found a friend. And that friend's name was Garry.
Okay, so I meant for it to be short. But then I just kept on writing. Hopefully it isn't too horrible because I haven't wrote in ages, just I love this game and their dynamic. :-) I guess it's true to say I do ship these two romantically, but I wrote this so you can look at it as friendship or something else. I have nothing more to say, except that Garry is beautiful.