Let's Try This Again, Shall we? (A SPM Swap AU)

Communicating

~ L̶u̴i̶g̶i̴ ̴P̴O̵V̸ ~

~ Present Time ~

I stood there, just staring at him as he explained what had really happened, trying to process everything.

This poor guy...

Mr. L seemed to wait a moment for me to respond but continued talking when he realized I wasn't going to. "... I know I shouldn't have blindly followed him, just as I blindly followed the Count... but I wanted to. I didn't want to be alone. I wanted to help him because... I thought maybe it could lead to a future together."  Mr. L stated, looking somewhat remorseful. "I know I shouldn't want to... but I still want that. I still want to find a way to get that. He's more than the person he presents himself to be, I know it- I̷ ̴k̶n̴o̷w̶ ̴i̵t̴"

His voice skipped again at the end of that. It had been a while since it had done that...

He shook his head, then covered his face, lowering it in shame, his speech becoming less and less easy to understand, skipping and glitching more like how it used to. His appearance seemed to also glitch as well. "I̷͇͆'̴̰͒ḿ̶̜ ̸̜̆s̴̖̾o̷̼̾r̵̼̅r̵̞̈y̸̗͑.̸̰́ ̴̱̑Î̶̳'̶̪̈m̴̨̽ ̶̧̇ṡ̴͎o̸̤͊r̵̬̔r̸̞̕y̸̥͘.̷̛͔ ̶̖͑I̶̱͊ ̷̠̾s̵̱͆ḧ̶̰́o̸͙̽u̴̦͋ḽ̴͘d̸͎̄n̸̮̋'̸͔̏t̶͎͝ ̸̲̕h̶̺̅ȃ̶̪v̴͍̎e̷̛̯ ̶̢̈́d̸̫͊r̶̺̈a̸͉͂g̴̙͆g̷͙͆e̸̳͘d̵̟͘ ̴̢̂ÿ̴̬́ö̷̜́u̵̺̓ ̴͖̃i̷̭̋n̷̥̂t̶̗̽ȯ̸̺ ̷͓̋ť̶͓ḧ̴͙i̵͚͐s̶͑ͅ-̶̥̏ ̷̀͜t̴̯̓h̷̩̔i̸͛ͅs̶͙͝.̶̝̿ ̸̬̑I̴̘̅ ̸̝̑ś̵͔h̷͍́ò̶̘u̸̜̿l̴͈͝d̶͙̕ ̸̡̚h̴̡̔á̷̞v̷̛̝e̷͎̒ ̶͓̑k̴̟̈́n̶͖̆o̴̮͌w̸̤̋n̵͇̓ ̶̺͗h̷̨̐e̶͈̎'̴͔́ḓ̶̄ ̸̹͌d̷̥͂o̸̞͑ ̷̮̆s̶̪̾o̸͙͝m̸͈̂è̶͚t̴͇͝h̶̲̊ḯ̷̮n̷̬̆ĝ̵̬ ̸̭̿l̵̩͛i̴̤̽k̶̰̓e̴͉̅-̶͍̾"̷͉͌

I suddenly slid over to him and wrapped him in a tight hug, cutting his sentence short. I didn't care that he was willing to give me up earlier anymore. I didn't care about any of it. I just squeezed my eyes shut and hugged tightly. 

And he stopped glitching. He felt... real. 

And at that moment, that was when I realized what was truly going on.

"You love him... don't you?" I softly asked.

He didn't answer.

I didn't expect him too.

It took a good long minute before he hugged back, lightly sniffling. "I.... don't know why. I-it doesn't make sense..." He whispered.

"Well... love doesn't always make sense. Sometimes it just doesn't make sense, but that doesn't make it any less true. It's okay that it's messy."

"I... didn't know you could do that," He whispered, voice still echoing, but no longer glitching. "The hug I mean. I didn't know you had the power to do that..."

"Me neither," I admitted, pulling back and standing up. "I was actually 90% sure I would just phase through you."

He paused, then seemed to stand up as well. Curious, he punched me in the arm. Of course, his hand phased through just as it used to. "Odd..." He whispered.

"Here," I murmured, taking a deep breath and grabbing his arm. Only this time, I actually grabbed it. "I think... I have to want to feel you. Otherwise, you'll phase right through me. I think that's how I grabbed the pipe."

"So... you can make me real to you?" Mr. L questioned, eyes widening slightly.

"I think-" I started, when I was cut off by the sound of that familiar chime. I snapped my head to the side to see who, but Dimentio, glaring at me with an ice-cold gaze.