The night air was cool, but the room was warm with laughter and the soft glow of a handheld game console. Stanley sat cross-legged on the floor, eyes glued to the screen as Hector grinned beside him, elbowing Stanley lightly.

“Bet I can beat you this time,” Hector teased, fingers flying over the buttons.

Stanley rolled his eyes. “Yeah, right. You only won last time because I let you.”

Hector snorted. “Sure, keep telling yourself that. You’re just scared I’m better.”

Stanley smirked. “Better at button-mashing maybe.”

“Better at everything else,” Hector shot back with a grin.

Their banter filled the room, a comfortable rhythm after everything they’d been through. No darkness lurking tonight—just two friends, safe and together. Outside, the desert wind whispered softly, but inside, the world was theirs.

Stanley paused the game and stretched. “You know, this is nice. Just us. No Warden, no digging holes.”

“Yeah,” Hector said, nodding. “Just sleepovers and bad snacks.”

Stanley laughed, tossing a bag of chips at him. Hector caught it easily.

“Promise me something?” Stanley said quietly, his tone serious beneath the joke.

“What?”

“If anything ever tries to mess with us again… we don’t run.”

Hector met his gaze, then smiled, the same fierce loyalty shining in his eyes they’d shared through hardship.

“We stand together. Always.”

Stanley nodded, feeling that steady, unbreakable bond they’d forged in the harshest place imaginable.

For tonight, that was enough.

They settled back down, the screen lighting up their faces as the game resumed—and with it, the calm before the storm.