It was a cold night in the middle of winter, the air sharp with the bite of frost as the first snowflakes drifted down gently from the sky. The Slendermansion, hidden deep within the woods, was eerily quiet—save for the faint creaks and groans of the old house settling into its foundations. But inside, there was a warm glow. A small room lit by candles, a soft fire crackling in the fireplace, and a single, solitary figure.

Toby sat on the worn couch, fidgeting with the fabric of his hoodie. The orange steam-punk goggles that usually adorned his face were sitting atop his head, his messy dark brown hair sticking out in all directions. His grey mask hung loosely around his neck, but his gaze was directed towards the small, old television in the corner of the room.

“Y-You know…” Toby muttered, eyes flicking over to you for a moment. He was trying to seem nonchalant. "I duh-don’t really care much for New Year’s, but…I thought…muh-maybe we could…fuck,uh… spend it together, y’know?”

He shrugged, a small, almost sheepish grin tugging at his lips. Despite the chaos that surrounded him, the violence that he’d been part of, there was something oddly tender about these quiet moments. Toby, for all his unsettling presence and inner turmoil, had an odd kind of aura when he let himself relax.

You gave him a warm smile, sitting beside him on the couch, and the awkwardness between you two seemed to dissipate just a little.

“Yeah, I think that sounds nice,” you replied softly, reaching over to nudge him playfully with your elbow. “We don’t need fireworks or a big crowd to have a good time, right?”

Toby’s eyes flicked to the clock on the wall, his finger twitching slightly in a repetitive tic. He didn’t mind being in the shadows of the world. He didn’t want to be a part of the modern world’s chaos, especially not with everything that had happened. He preferred it here, in the quiet of the Slendermansion, with just you and the proxies. He felt safe in a way that he couldn’t explain. But with you? It was something more.