Unspecified time. Too much light.
The headache was bad. But Ian thought he would live – it was not even the worst he had experienced. He had only barely coherent memories of the night. One thing was certain though - Cave Story had been beaten. Now they wouldn't ever need to return to it.
He took in his surroundings, trying to force the insistent pounding in his head to the background. Next to him, Jo had apparently been sleeping with all her clothes on. She made a sudden agonizing groan, which startled him.
"I made – the worst mistake I could," she explained.
Ian could not imagine what it would be, but it sounded very similar to how he had once considered playing Cave Story as the worst mistake possible.
"I read Cave Story fanfiction."
Now Ian possibly understood where she was getting at.
"And then I couldn't get - any sleep at all. I thought the author of the game was evil, but it's nothing compared to the writers in there! Like, in one story the robots get their victory, but then it turns out they have hidden expiration dates. And then – fuck. I had forgotten about the thing in your chest. Like you could have one too. And I climbed next to you and just kept listening, somehow afraid that you'd die right there, after we'd finished the damn game."
Cave Story, absinthe and fanfiction. It was not a good combination. Ian could imagine the anguish, how the conclusion of the night had turned out for Jo. It was of course not an entirely unwarranted fear, but he had already had the artificial heart for months, with no problems to speak of.
But warranted or not, that was not the point. Ian had his philosophy related to this that he was at peace with – anyone could die at any point – but he didn't want to tell Jo that now.
"Hey. It's OK. Just imagine you're Curly and you're still rebooting. Can I get you something?"
Jo smiled at him, like what he'd said was very ridiculous, but also kind of appreciated. Possibly the best reaction he could think of.
...
There wasn't much variety in the fridge, but after some insistence, Jo had downed one glass of orange juice. It was not quite the same as ramming the mushroom in Curly's mouth, but there was some vague similarity to the idea. She probably wasn't going to get any more sleep, though.
For Ian, the pounding was still there. But there was no hurry. Definitely no need to get up yet. Through the curtains he saw the dark shape of Erik's pickup truck. Still in recovery mode as well.
Jo rolled slowly to face Ian.
"You said something ... about going to a place inside your head. That happening now?"
Ian had to mentally rewind to understand what she was even talking about. Then the memory hit him, and it was - embarrassing. But there was no real use to deny.
"Yeah. You ... just have that effect on me."
Jo's expression was somewhat hard to read. Just a little sad perhaps, not wanting that much power and responsibility.
"And what if I do this?"
She started to hum the melody of Moonsong. Ian couldn't even tell what the song represented to him now. Maybe, all the dreams they could fulfill. The thought was somewhat overwhelming. It'd possibly help if he inched closer, to Jo's lap.
"Still emo as fuck?" she asked, and Ian was not sure if Jo meant the song, or him. Either way fit.
"Yeah." The word came out as a very low rasp.
But he badly needed something else to think about. Something a bit more practical, instead of levitating in a fluffy cloud inside his mind. Finally he knew what.
"One thing we need to think about. Not necessarily today. Our next set of wheels."
Jo stopped the Moonsong melody, and considered for a moment.
"A Fiesta? It's almost as small and ugly. But more square. Like a - toaster?"
It seemed Cave Story would just not leave them alone. But there was no real reason to disagree. A Ford Fiesta was a very logical choice. Practical, cheap and anonymous. And also continuing the legacy of the Ka, which no other four-wheeled object would ever hope to beat, really.