Dave and Heinz are caught in a fragile truce, though neither of them knows whether it stands on anything solid or if it's just the spark of their attraction holding it together. When Dave finally loosens his grip, Heinz steps back slightly, but the look in his eyes is a dangerous mix of triumph and defiance, impossible to ignore.
Heinz's green eyes seem to hide entire worlds of secrets. There's no telling what's going through his mind, but the tension thick in the air says enough—this isn't over. It's just changed shape. Dave folds his arms across his chest, trying to rebuild the distance he just destroyed.
"So…" Heinz says, his voice sharp as a blade. "If you've decided to trust me… are you going to follow your own rules?"
Dave lets out a dry laugh, tilting his head as if trying to decipher what Heinz is playing at. But Heinz gives no hints, only watches him with practiced calm, like a predator who's been waiting patiently for this moment all along.
"What the hell are you talking about now?" Dave growls, not even bothering to hide his irritation.
Heinz lets a faint smile curl the corner of his mouth, but there's something fierce in his eyes—dangerous, electric.
"You know exactly what I mean. You want answers. You want out of this place…" He steps forward, closing the gap between them with unsettling confidence. "But for that, Dave, you're going to have to do something you've never done before—trust unconditionally."
The word hits him like a blow. Trust. It's always been his fault line, the fracture others exploited. Dave's learned the hard way that blind trust is just an invitation for betrayal. And in this place of shadows and secrets, trust feels like the most reckless gamble of all.
"And how exactly am I supposed to do that," Dave mutters, his voice low and sharp, "when I don't even know if you're being honest? For all I know, this is just another setup. Another trap to break me open."
Heinz laughs softly, almost like Dave's doubt is amusing, absurd even.
"A trick?" he echoes, his tone gentle, but cutting underneath. "Dave, I've been more honest with you than I should've been." He pauses, his gaze narrowing with something between reproach and—maybe—something like pity. "But if you need proof, keep doubting. Just remember—the answers won't come to you on their own."
Dave studies him in silence. There's something in the way Heinz says it, in the rough sincerity of his words, that throws him off balance. Maybe Heinz isn't the problem. Maybe it's his own goddamn doubts eating him alive.
"Fine," Dave exhales, frustrated. "If you've actually got a plan—if you really know how to get me out of this—I'm listening. But don't expect me to play along like some obedient pawn."
That earns him a smile from Heinz. Small, sharp, dangerous.
"I've never seen you as a pawn," Heinz says softly, his voice a low hum of something that feels too much like truth. "If I'm here—if I've done this—it's because, deep down, you and I want the same thing."
A chill runs through Dave. He doesn't know if Heinz is lying, or if this is part of some larger game he hasn't seen yet—but the words cut deeper than they should. He hates that they land somewhere tender, somewhere he's tried to keep hidden.
His thoughts snarl into a tangle of mistrust and reluctant want, the pull between running for his life or diving straight into the kind of madness that's already pulled him under once before.
"Alright. Let's talk about this plan," he mutters, jaw tight, ignoring the heat still crawling over his skin from that fragile, broken instant they shared. "What's your move?"
Without another word, Heinz turns to a door set into the far wall—one Dave hadn't noticed before. He brushes his hand across the surface, and at his touch, dark runes flare to life, glowing faintly in shifting patterns that seem to writhe beneath the flickering light.
"This is where it begins," Heinz murmurs, eyes fixed on the symbols. "We have to reach the edge of this dimension, where the borders between realities blur. That's where I can break the seal and send you back to your world."
Dave watches him closely. Suspicion still gnaws at the edges of his thoughts, but curiosity weighs heavier. The pull of home is sharp, tempting—but something deeper, darker, urges him forward. Maybe instinct. Maybe that same strange, infuriating connection with Heinz that he can't explain or shake.
They pass through the doorway together.
Beyond is a narrow corridor, a bridge suspended over a chasm of nothingness. Each step they take feels heavier, like walking deeper into a choice that can't be undone. The further they go, the more oppressive the silence becomes. It hums around them, as if the world itself is holding its breath.
Heinz stops, glancing back. His expression is conflicted—a war between doubt and certainty, a mirror of the storm Dave feels twisting inside his chest.
"This is your last chance," Heinz says quietly, gravity anchoring every word. "If you cross this threshold, there's no going back. Not for you. Not for me."
Dave meets his gaze. The weight of everything unsaid crackles between them, and for one dangerous second, the idea of staying here—getting lost in this world of lies and shadows—tempts him more than the thought of escape ever could.
But he inhales sharply and takes a step forward, steady. Sure.
"I'm not the kind of guy who stands at the starting line, Heinz," he says, voice hard with resolve and defiance. "Let's go."
Heinz smiles. But this time, there's something mournful in it, as if he already knows the cost of what's coming, and that neither of them is ready to pay it.
"As you wish, Dave."
And with that, they walk into the dark.
Unaware that the rules of the game are about to shatter.
That beyond this fragile truce lies a truth neither of them is ready to face.
And that whatever they've begun to build between them might not survive what waits at the edge of all things.