[Synopsis: You can't feel them, but they're there...Unless you were to die and become one yourself. Then you'd feel it. GentleCheese fluff!(idk what made me think of this one. XD]

[Location: MIRA HQ]

This follows the events of "The Death of MrCheese." A bit on the angsty side? Perhaps. But we still got that fluff in there, don't worry!

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I've been following him ever since the funeral...Y'know, it's kinda surreal attending your own funeral, seeing everyone cry over your dead body as it gets lowered into the ground, but they don't know that I'm actually here, watching it all happen...Except TheGentleman. I know he doesn't see me, but he knows I'm still here. And somehow, he was totally right about me gesturing frantically during his speech...Guess it was just me tryin' to cheer everyone up. I don't like seeing any of them sad...

...I just wish TheGentleman could actually see me. He knows I'm here, but...still. I wish everyone could see me, really. They'd probably all be so happy to know I was still with them...

It was only until after the funeral that I started to feel weighed down. Which is weird, since I don't exactly weigh anything anymore, heh heh...Yeah. He and Cheddar stayed there mourning until after the sun went down...I've never seen him cry so hard.

I didn't like seeing him like that...I wish I could tell him everything was gonna be okay...

I knew he probably wouldn't feel it, but I floated down beside him and gave him a hug...Kinda surprised I didn't phase right through him, heh...Guess that's good, though. He's never told anyone but me, but he really likes being hugged...I wish he'd told some other people that, though. He needs 'em now more than ever.

And the ones I'm givin' him? Well...It's not exactly like when I was corporeal. The only way he'd be able to feel mine is it he died, too...

But no one lives forever. We will see each other again someday, I know that much...Guess I'll just have to wait until then.

No matter how long it takes...

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...

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Task Completed

TheGentleman took a step away from the wire panel and gingerly shut the lid before plodding out of the greenhouse, heading down the hall to the cafeteria at a snail's pace...Mother passed him by as he went along, and slowed to a halt to speak to him.

"TheGentleman?"

He barely gave her the satisfaction of eye contact.

"...I just want to know if you're okay," she told him softly. "You know, if you ever need any of us, just say something and we'll-"

She never got to finish. TheGentleman's visor squeezed shut and he clumsily ran the rest of the way down the hall, covering his face and weeping...Mother sighed and hung her head in sympathy for the poor man; she would never know just what he was going through. And the worst part was that she had no idea how to help, so she turned away and kept going into the office...Maybe a solution would come to her as she worked.

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...

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TheGentleman finally collapsed just outside the hallway, falling down against the cafeteria wall, hiding his face in his knees and continuing to cry...Nothing would ever be the same again. Without MrCheese in his life, where was his joy? His happiness? He had none. He was the one who'd taught him how to have fun in the first place. It was like he'd become an entirely different person because of him...A better person.

And now he was gone. A huge chunk of his heart ripped clean out...He didn't think he could bear to go on.

Through his tears, he failed to hear the sound of a vent opening, and footsteps approaching where he sat...It was only when he heard the metallic "shing" of a knife being pulled from its sheath did he freeze and look up.

...A figure in pink hovered over him. She sported a pair of goggles atop her head, not unlike Engineer's, and a sharp blade in her hand...The Impostor.

The Impostor who took MrCheese from him.

He felt his sorrow curdle into rage.

"...YOU," he breathed, a low snarl embedded in his hushed, deathly voice. But she was unfazed. After all, she had a weapon. He didn't.

And what was stranger still was the look in her visor...Oddly remorseful for a monster.

"...I'd have spared him if I'd known," she said softly. "...I'm sorry."

"Nothing you say will ever make up for what you've done," the dark-clad crewmate growled at her, eyeing the emergency button...It was just a few yards away. Maybe if he made a rush for it, he would be able to press it and call a meeting...And avenge his associate.

But the Impostor could tell what he was thinking, and she immediately threw out her knife-holding hand to block him.

"I'm afraid I can't let you do that," she told him solemnly. "...And I'm afraid that at this point, you know a little too much."

She turned her hand and pointed the knife right at him.

"You...you wouldn't."

"...I have to," she sighed. "But, before I do this, I just want to tell you that...I know some things. About MrCheese. About death...About what happened to him after he died. You'd call me crazy if I put it to you straight, but-"

"Stop it," he snapped. "Why do you need to rub salt in an already gaping wound? Are you really THAT sadistic?"

She hung her head and sighed again.

"...That's where you're wrong," she said to him. "Ironic as it is that it's by use of a knife, I'm trying to heal it."

Before TheGentleman could respond again, the Impostor lunged forward, plunging the knife into his chest.

He gasped for breath, only to choke on his own blood as it spilled out of him. Burning, searing pain swept across him, and he felt his strength draining.

The pink-clad killer didn't look very proud of herself, though...Instead of fleeing the scene, she leaned the dying crewmate against the wall, cradling his head with one hand as the other pulled the knife out of him and set it down on the ground.

"I know you hate me," she told him. "And I know I seem like I'm making it worse, but...You're gonna be glad I did this later. Even if I won't hear a 'thank you.'"

"Wh...why...?"

The crewmate's voice was soft and raspy, and his eyes were beginning to gloss over.

"Because I know what's gonna happen," she promised. "...And I know that this isn't the end for you. Even if it is the end for your body."

TheGentleman kept trying to look at her, just barely able to read the earnest expression in her eyes...He was so tired all of a sudden. He just wanted to rest...

"It's going to be okay," she whispered to him. "...I promise."

Finally, the crewmate's torn heart made its final beat, and the last bit of life TheGentleman clung to slipped from his limp fingers and vanished...

He was gone.

The Impostor rose two fingers and closed his eyes, then gently lowered his body back to the ground...She did feel bad having to leave it there for the others to find, especially after they'd just lost MrCheese, but she didn't have much of a choice. So she left him, headed back to the balcony and went back into the vent, satisfied with her dark grey deed.

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...

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"Hm...What...?"

Consciousness slowly returned to TheGentleman, his vision blurry when he first opened his visor. As it slowly cleared, he found himself in the same spot he'd been before; the cafeteria. And all of the pain from before had dissipated. Had he gotten help? Managed to survive somehow?

...No.

He felt himself rise, but made no conscious effort to stand. He couldn't even feel his legs. Odd. Very odd.

TheGentleman rose his hands and looked at them. They were mostly the same, except for being...slightly translucent.

And then, he turned around to see what was behind him.

And he was met with the horrifying image of his own corpse, lying in a pool of his own blood.

He yelped, then zipped out onto the balcony to flee the grisly image, phasing right through the wall in between the doors as he did so. Once he came to a halt, he began to add everything up in his mind, and the truth of the matter finally dawned on him.

...He was dead. And now he was a ghost, invisible and silent to the ones he loved.

"...Is this what she meant? I...I don't feel pain anymore, but what will I do now? Nobody can see me, or hear me..." he lamented, his visor welling up with ghostly tears. "And I'm all alone."

"No you're not. I'm still here!"

He spun around to look behind him at the sound of the voice...There was absolutely NO mistaking that voice.

"Hi, TheGentleman," MrCheese greeted him. "Sorry about what happened there. But hey, at least you can see and hear me now, right?"

"M-m...MrCheese...?"

"Yeah, who else could it be? Heh heh...You glad to see me?"

TheGentleman's visor widened, and the tears that'd been pooling in its corners finally flowed down his transparent face.

"Y...y-yes, I am...I really am, MrCheese, I didn't think I'd see you again for the longest time..." he uttered, his voice weak and high-pitched. As tears continued to flow down his face, MrCheese floated closer to him.

"Hey...You know something?"

"Hm...?"

"Ever since the funeral? I've been right here beside you. Never left you once. And even though you couldn't feel 'em, I was always givin' you hugs."

"Y-you were?"

"Heck yeah, I was," MrCheese smiled. "...Hey, you know, now that you're a ghost too, you'll probably be able to feel the hugs I give you."

"Is...is that true?"

"Well, I'd think so. Here, lemme try."

MrCheese floated forward, hands reached out, and drew TheGentleman right to him, squeezing him gently.

"Can you feel it?"

"I..."

The black-colored ghost rose his shaking hands, then put them around MrCheese in return.

"...I do. I do feel it, I..."

"TheGentleman? Are you okay-"

"Oh, MrCheese, I'm so happy to see you again...!"

He held his orange-clad companion even tighter, burying his face into him as he started to cry all over again. MrCheese brought him in closer, stroking the back of his head as they both slowly descended closer to the floor.

"I am, too...Honestly didn't expect it to be this soon, but I guess I should've seen that comin', heh heh...eh...We're gonna be okay, alright?"

To further console him, MrCheese wrapped his ghostly tail around that of his associate and used it to hold him even closer. He felt his tail squeeze back a bit in return; it felt like a strange, but ever so comforting combination between a handhold and a cuddle.

"...Dry the tears away, alright?" he said to him softly, delicately brushing one from his face with his thumb. "I'm not gonna go anywhere, okay? Everything's gonna be fine, you'll see!"

They were both sitting down at that point, still holding one another tightly. MrCheese gently stroked the back of TheGentleman's head as he looked him in the eye...He'd calmed down a bit, but another tear still managed to escape him every second or two.

"...Honestly? Don't take this the wrong way, but I'm kinda glad the Impostor went and did what she did," he confessed. "I don't like seeing you upset, TheGentleman. I especially hate seeing you cry...I knew you wouldn't be okay until you saw me again."

"I...I p-probably wouldn't have been," the black-clad ghost sniffled. "...I think I know what she meant now when she said I'd thank her later. Sh-she knew this would happen...Somehow."

It was at that moment that TheGentleman's head perked up.

"But...I'm still dead. The rest of the crew, when they find my body, they'll...E-everyone was already still getting over you, but now that they've lost me, too? They'll be absolutely heartbroken..."

"Well...That's true. But there really isn't anything we can do about that...The most we can do is finish our tasks so that they might beat the Impostor before it's too late."

"I see..."

"Hey. They'll still see us again someday, you know that, right?"

"...True."

"We just gotta wait until then...And in the mean time, at least we have each other, right?"

"Very true, MrCheese," TheGentleman nodded, leaning his head against the other ghost's. "...Thank you for always being there. Even when I didn't know it."

"I was happy to...Everything is gonna be just fine."

They stayed there on the balcony, content in each other's company and ever so glad to be reunited. For the first time in what felt like a long time, TheGentleman was happy.

"...Besides," MrCheese continued. "We'll get transported back to the lobby dropship with everyone else fine and dandy once the round is over, you know that, right?"

"Oh...Yes, that's true, isn't it? Ha!"

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Sometimes, the gang takes the deaths in their crew a little too seriously, considering that they'll be revived at the end of the round. Glad that got cleared up; can't have TOO much hurt and not enough comfort in this book, can I? XD