Chapter Text
He needed you. He needed you more than anything in the world. You were his reason for living, his everything, the reason he existed in this world… and you were currently nuzzled into his chest using him like your personal pillow as you were content to just hold him close. He wasn’t content with just that. You /needed/ him… he needed you to need him.
Jack wrapped his arms around you, holding you close and safe as you snuggled in. He could get inklings of your thoughts from time to time, he was just so close and connected with you that knowing what you thought every once in a while was just natural. Right now, your head was just full of warm fuzzies that bounced around, making him feel loved and fall even more in love with you.
You weren’t choosing him yet, but… it was fine. He still had time to make you choose him, there was always a second chance.
Even if you didn’t say yes.
The tape always rewound and started the game over.
Sunny Day Jack gave a small chuckle at the thought, gently running his gloved fingers through your hair, although he did his best to stifle that little laughter when you gave a small disgruntled groan at being disturbed by the movement of his chest.
This version of you, his adorable sunshine laying on his chest, this was just a… projection of you. The ‘you’ that could exist in this incomplete world with him.
He was frustratingly aware that this world was incomplete.
There were only so many times you could play the game, there were only two endings, and despite how much he tried to reach you with just text boxes and voice lines alone, there’d always be that gap. A gap he was working to close, but a gap nonetheless.
He was afraid that one day, you’d get tired of playing his little game… you’d leave him, and he couldn’t have that.
Pressing a gentle kiss to the top of your head… well, the head that was supposed to represent your head… Jack rested back on the couch, arms wrapped tightly around you. He needed you. He needed you to need his presence, his voice, his touch… that way he could exist in the world that you were in.
The more you played his silly little game, the more you wanted him… the more you needed him by your side to take care of you. You were smart enough to be aware of some of his subtle manipulation, he was sure of it… but you would also let your guard down since you could recognize it at times.
It wasn’t like any of his manipulation was particularly bad for you! He always wanted what was best for you, after all! You were his sunshine! The one who brought life and warmth to his life, just like he did for you. He cared about you more than anyone else in the world could! If only he could be with you, wherever it was that you were… he’d give anything for that.
He just needed you to get more attached to him, he relied on your thought and your need for him to exist in this game he was stuck in, and the same was true for him to escape from that fictional world, he needed you to want him there physically.
Every time you closed out of the game… every time he was just stuck there, all alone in the cold darkness of programming, unable to speak, unable to move, unable to even /be/… he tried reaching out. He could feel his connection to you, your want for him… it just… wasn’t strong enough yet. He needed more, you needed to need him more and he was doing everything in his power to make that happen. He was drawing you in, with the subtle manipulation he let you notice, with the voicelines he gave, with the little hints about his past he tried his hardest to tell you… and every time the game was shut down, he tried his hardest to reach through that programming and pull himself out.
To pull himself into your world, so he could be with you! So he could protect you and love you the way you deserved to be loved!
He let out a small sigh, watching as the world around you and him slowly disappeared, leaving just him holding what was supposed to be you tightly, until that too vanished and left him alone in the cold and dark of the programing… it looked like you had turned off the game for the night. He reached out, trying to get to you, trying to get you back in his arms.
It was so cold here…
He was so used to being met with just the same old cold darkness that awaited him whenever you left, that the little glue glow that arrived when he reached out was shocking. He wasn’t expecting something to actually change, for him to actually have a chance!
He actually had a chance!
Jack reached out, taking this chance and holding onto it with all of his might. Through the staticing burn of screen fuzz and pixels that seemed to rip him apart from the inside out, the scratch of code against his very being… it was worth it, though. It was worth everything the moment he saw that shocked look on your face, staring up at him with the widest eyes that he couldn’t help but get lost in.
You were so cute! Just looking at him, sitting there all pretty! It looked like you were ready to hit the hay, computer open to your background screen and your hand poised over what would make the screen sleep for the night, already in some comfy clothes and partially pushed away from your device.
Jack couldn’t help the grin on his face, looking at you… perfect, loveable you, who’d finally wanted him enough to pull him out of that game world. “Hey there, sunshine!” He greeted, that bright smile on his face as he gave a little wave. He was just… waiting for your reaction. He didn’t want to freak you out after all! Your happiness was one of the most important things to him! If you were happy and wanted him, he’d be able to stay with you forever!
You were looking at him like you were about to jump from your seat and run for the nearest exit… well, you were actually considering that. Jack could tell. He needed to calm you down, so you wouldn’t run, so you’d be comfortable around him… so you’d be his.
“You, ah… probably weren’t expecting this, huh?” He asked, growing a little sheepish and giving a small shrug. “I should’ve figured out some way to warn you or something, before you pulled me out. It’s hard to get around the code though.”
“The… code?” You asked, confusion evident on your face.
Sunny Day Jack smiled, nodding his head as he put his hands on his hips. “Yep! The code. What we’ve got going on is the case of you pulling me out of the demo. You’ve played the game enough times that you’ve at least figured out some of the story, right? How my existence works?” Jack asked, tilting his head slightly. He figured that the way to help you not be on edge around him would be to actually explain what he was so you had an idea of what was going on. The more you knew, the more comfortable you would be around him… especially since he was well aware what type of game he came from.
“Yeah… I think so, but that’s not-”
“Real?” He replied, tilting his head slightly and raising his eyebrows. “Sunshine, I’m as real as you are. /You/ made me real!
“But-”
“No buts, not right now,” Jack said, giving a shake of his head as he chuckled, “You look exhausted. You should probably go and get some rest, sleep on it, you know? We can talk more about it in the morning, how’s that sound? Maybe over a nice breakfast?” He offered, giving a little half shrug, “I’m pretty sure even you can’t argue with pancakes, right?”
You blinked, thinking it over. As the game pointed out, it was hard to argue with tangible food… if he could cook, he could interact with the world, and if he could interact with the world, he had to be real to some extent… you couldn’t help but wonder how much your life was going to be like the game. After all, all you had played was the demon… Sunny Day Jack hadn’t even gone yandere in any of it, other than maybe edging towards those tendencies at the very end of the game when he asked who it was you were with.
You had your own theories about him and his existence… those of which aligned with his reasoning for how exactly he had come out of the game.
It was just the fact that he had actually come out of the game in the first place you were trying to wrap your head around.
You see, you had this theory about Sunny Day Jack, about how he existed in the lore of the game, why he was crazy for you, what exactly he was in terms of his character’s existence.
You thought that the story of the game started with the incident of ‘84 clip, the one the main character of the game found at the thrift shop. That video was titled ‘incident’ for a reason in your opinion, and you had guessed that it had something to do with the actor who played the fictional character of ‘Sunny Day Jack’.. Who died. Your best guess was that the actor had been doing a scene, doing his job of acting as the character, and something had happened to cause him to die on set while being filmed. However he died, it was filmed and that tape was kept on the VHS tape that the main character bought and watched and released Sunny Day Jack from. Your best assumption was that he was some kind of spirit… the ghost of the dead actor who got trapped in his role, that the main character released when they watched the video.
He was crazy for you because you set him free, and he loved you with every fiber of his being
That was your theory on it anyways.
"Hellooo?" Jack asked, waving his hand slightly to get your attention and pulling you out of your thoughts. He grinned, watching you blink. "Ah, there you are! If you're zoning out like this already, I'm sure you need to rest… come on, let's get you to bed," he said.
Jack gave you a soft smile, holding out his hand to help you up and out of the chair you were sitting in. You were… hesitant to take his hand. What if you went right through him? That would prove that this was all in your head but… there was also the thought about what if you /didn't/ pass right through him; if he was real… you didn't know which option you preferred.
After a moment, you slowly put your hand in his, feeling the material of his gloves across your fingertips and palms. He grinned, closing his hand around yours and yanking slightly to pull you up. Somehow, he positioned himself to be conveniently placed for you to stumble into.
He caught you, of course, your body against his warm chest as you looked up at him… oh boy, he was tall…
Jack let go before your mind could wander too far, keeping your hand in his but stepping away, giving you your space. "Let's get you all comfy and cozy, sunshine. I can tell your head's going a mile a minute, but you need rest… we can talk more in the morning," he told you, giving you that soft smile you had gotten to know fairly well, that you had seen for hours on end.
“Are you… going to be in bed with me?” You couldn’t help but ask. As soon as the question left your mouth, you regretted it. What kind of question was that?! It made you sound like you were thirsty for him or something! You just meant it to try and figure out sleeping arrangements. After all, he was a… guest? You supposed that was the best thing to call him for now.
Jack laughed, all warm and amused, just giving a slight shake of his head. “No, not tonight at least. You need rest and I have a feeling that if I slept in your bed tonight you wouldn’t actually get to sleep… ah, not because of anything, you’d just be too busy thinking, right?” He quickly added on, realizing just how his words sounded. His cheeks flushed red as he quickly began to maneuver around to guide you to your bed, he just already knew where it was.
The rest of the evening was just a kind of blur for you, with the 80’s primary color clown man tucking you in with a little peck goodnight on your forehead, leaving you staring at the ceiling as you tried to process just all that had happened. You did eventually fall asleep, waking up the next morning in a haze of thought, blankets haphazardly thrown over your body from your tossing over. Your first instinct was to call all of that a dream. After all, that was dream material right there, the character you were currently fixating on just suddenly popping out of the game with some reason that he was able to do that because you wanted him to.
Of course, that train of thought got thrown right out the fucking window when there was a polite little knock on your door, Sunny Day Jack himself poking his head in a couple of moments after to give you a grin and wish you good morning.
“Breakfast is ready, if you’re hungry and want to talk,” He said with a smile, leaving you to get ready and face the new day.