The Stanley Parable Oneshots★

Tears and Hugs

Stanley POV:

Stanley stayed sitting in his office after the narrator finished his opening monologue, not wanting to do anything for a while. Stanley was tired, not exactly physically, but mentally. Stanley was tired of the same story and lines he had heard over and over again to the point of insanity. There was no way out for Stanley, and he knew it.

"Are you just going to sit there all day Stanley? The narrator asked, Stanley didn't respond, instead he rested his head on the desk in front of him. Stanley let out a pained sigh, he felt hopeless and alone. Sure the narrator was there but he wasn't... There. Instead of being a physical person, the narrator was a voice telling Stanley what to do, where to go and sometimes how to think. Stanley never really listened to the narrator when he tells him what he's thinking unless he actually guesses what Stanley is actually thinking, which is almost all the time. Maybe because of how long Stanley and the narrator had been stuck here together for has made Stanley predictable to the narrator.

"Stanley?" The narrator spoke, "Are you alright?" Stanley wasn't alright, he wanted to respond to the narrator but found himself too frustrated to speak. Tears formed in the corners of Stanley's eyes, 'Why is this happening to me?' Stanley thought to himself as he quietly being sobbing.

"Oh dear." The narrator said with worry the moment he noticed Stanley crying, "Please don't cry Stanley. Tell me what's wrong." It was hurting the narrator's heart to see Stanley in such a state. Stanley remained silent, unable to speak like usual.

The narrator thought for a moment and then spoke, "I was going to wait to do this, but I should just do it now to help you feel better." Stanley looked up at the ceiling with teary eyes, wondering what the narrator could be talking about. "Stanley, go outside the office and follow the path of the story, you'll know what I'm talking about when you see it." Stanley was hesitant to follow the narrator's instructions, but Stanley stood up and left his office anyway. The narrator did say that whatever it is that he is talking about was supposed to make Stanley feel better and if the narrator really knew Stanley, could predict everything about Stanley, then maybe whatever could be out there would be worth while.

When Stanley entered the second room he noticed a pedestal with a bucket on top in the middle of the room. Stanley carefully approach the bucket and examined it closely, "I call this the reassurance bucket!" The narrator proudly announced, "When you pick up the reassurance bucket, you will instantly be hit with a calming wave of comfort and security, just like a friend would."

'Seriously?' Stanley thought to himself, 'A bucket? This must be some sort of joke.' Stanley look disappointedly at the bucket, there was no way a bucket would make all of Stanley's problems disappear. "Why don't you pick it up Stanley, then you'll see how incredible this bucket truly is." Stanley lifted the bucket into his arms and felt...

Nothing.

The bucket did nothing for Stanley except make him feel like a fool. "Isn't it wonderful?" The narrator asked in a sweet and gentle manner. Stanley remembered everytime the narrator had talked to Stanley with that tone, he loved listening to every word that had left the narrator's mouth. Thinking about the narrator, Stanley closed his eyes and gently hugged the bucket, wishing that instead of a bucket that was in his arms, it was a body that had narrator's voice.

"Do you feel any better now that you have a companion with you?" The narrator asked. Stanley barely heard the narrator, he was stuck in his little daydream of the narrator. A short comfortable silence fell between the two men. The narrator looked at how much more relaxed Stanley looked with the bucket in his arms and he couldn't help but feel warm inside, he had helped Stanley feel better and that made the narrator feel better. "Let's continue on with the story now Stanley." The narrator said, breaking the short silence.

Stanley walked through the office with the bucket held tightly to his chest. Everytime the narrator said something comforting, Stanley would close his eyes and hug the bucket closer to his chest with an image of the narrator in his head. Stanley would purposely not follow the narrator's instructions just to hear the narrator say something new that Stanley could daydream about. It got to the point where Stanley would no longer listen to a single instruction that the narrator had said.

After every reset the narrator would try to tell Stanley not to pick up the bucket so Stanley would actually follow the narrator's story again, but every single time it was back to the bucket. The narrator had gotten frustrated with Stanley's disobedience that he eventually came up with a plan to get Stanley to finally listen to him again.

The narrator waited patiently for Stanley to reach another ending and to restart again. Once he had done so, the narrator quietly watched Stanley exit his office. Stanley found it odd that the narrator hadn't started off with his normal narrations when Stanley had left his office, 'what was he up to?' Stanley thought. He decided to shake off that weird feeling, there was an explanation for that he was sure of it.

Stanley went to go retrieve the bucket when he realized that the bucket wasn't there. Stanley looked all over the room trying to find the bucket but it was no where to be found. "You're not going to find it." The narrator finally spoke, Stanley looked up at the ceiling, "I got rid of it."

Narrator's tone was cold and low, he sounded almost disappointed. "Why?" Stanley asked without thinking, he felt a pit in his stomach and a rise of frustration. "Well Stanley, I originally gave you the bucket in hopes that you'd finally feel better and continue with the story, but ever since I gave you the bucket you have been ignoring everything I have said! Not following the story at all! You cared more about that stupid bucket than you did me."

"I never cared about that bucket!" Stanley yelled, "The only reason why I kept it with me was so I could pretend that it was something I cared about! Why would I hug a bucket?! I only did that because in my mind it wasn't a bucket, it was person."

The narrator looked at Stanley with a surprised expression. The narrator wanted to speak but Stanley just kept going, unable to keep the words from escaping his mouth. "And in my mind it wasn't just any person, it was you!" A warm feeling settled inside of the narrator when he heard those words.

A mix of passion, frustration, and sadness was placed behind Stanley's words. Tears started to form in the corners of Stanley's eyes as he continued, "And the reason why I didn't follow your story was because when I did that you started talking to me! Instead of just talking about me. You talking to me gave me the comfort that you thought the bucket did." By now Stanley was in tears, but he didn't care, he wanted to tell the narrator how he felt. "I never cared about that stupid bucket... I cared about you."

The narrator was silent, he hadn't made a single noise to Stanley's confession. Feeling an overwhelming amount of emotions, Stanley ran back to his office, shut the door and collapse onto the floor with his back against the wall and hugging his knees close to his chest. Stanley silently cried to himself, he burred his head in his legs hiding his face from whoever was watching him

After a short while Stanley's office door opened, 'its probably the narrator trying to make me continue his stupid story' Stanley thought, 'well I'm not going t-'. Suddenly a pair of arms wrapped around Stanley, bringing him into a tight hug. Stanley looked up and looked at the stranger who had randomly hugged him.

The stranger was a male with dark hair with a single grey streak running through it, he wore glasses and had a slight stubble on his face. He wore dress clothes and had an ear peice in. "I'm sorry Stanley." The man spoke into Stanley's ear.

This man wasn't just any stranger, it was the narrator. The narrator had a body, a body that was currently holding Stanley. "I wish I have known, I would have done this sooner." Stanley hugged the narrator back and weakly smiled. "Please.." he said softly, almost whispering, "please stay like this... For a while." Stanley begged. The narrator hummed in Stanley's ear, "I'll stay like this for as long as you wish."

(1488 words)