Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

A sweet melody slipped through the forest, eventually reaching The Snatcher’s ears. He was making his rounds through the haunted forest that he called home when he noticed it; a small, faint melody coming from deep within the forest. It sounded strangely familiar, so he went to investigate, following the sound deeper and deeper into the trees and past the swamp.

Finally, when the music was loudest, he found a clearing in the woods, although rather small compared to the other clearings found scattered through the forest. In it floated the other resident specter, The Moonjumper. He could be an elusive sort, so this was quite a rare sight. He was floating near the center, the moonlight shining down like a spotlight. Snatcher slowly got closer to the clearing, making sure to be extra quiet. He didn’t want to interrupt him; in truth, Moonjumper’s singing was beautiful. He could listen to it all day, though he would never admit that out loud. He stayed there, listening, until Moonjumper slowly fell silent as the song came to an end. Snatcher came out of the trees, still out of Moonjumper’s view, and finally spoke. “You never told me you could sing, y’know.”

Moonjumper turned around, startled. “O-oh! Snatcher, I didn’t s-see you there! How...how much of that did you hear?” He asked, flustered.

“Most of it, and that isn’t a bad thing. Your voice really is beautiful, especially for a corpse,” Snatcher said, floating over and placing an arm around him.

“You...you really think so?” Moonjumper asked, looking up at him.

“Of course, why else would I say it?” Snatcher replied, pulling him closer. “You shouldn’t hide yourself like this, Moonboy. It’s getting harder and harder to find you in these woods."

"And yet, you manage to find me every time,” Moonjumper said, loosely wrapping his arms around Snatcher’s shoulders. With that, Snatcher pulled him into a kiss, closing the gap between them. After a long while, Snatcher finally pulled back, looking Moonjumper straight in the eyes.

“You know, you’re quite the charmer for a tsundere.”

“Hey! I’m not- where did you even hear that?!” Snatcher said, embarrassed.

“Starlight’s got quite the vocabulary, and she loves to gossip,” Moonjumper said, a smirk on his face.

“Alright, that’s enough outta you,” Snatcher said, pulling the other ghost into a kiss once more. Who knew a simple song could do so much more than sound nice?

Chapter Text

Is…

Is that Moonboy…?

What’s he doing coming out of the manor?

Is… is he injured?!

Snatcher rushed to the edge of the ice pillars surrounding the manor, a wave of fear flooding over him. As he got a closer look, Moonjumper was in fact hurt, and badly. He was floating only half a foot away from the ground, and his jacket had been ripped in multiple places. He hadn’t gotten far from the manor doors before staggering, clutching his stomach, and then collapsing onto the snow. Snatcher rushed towards him, panic replacing his fear.

“Moonboy…? You awake...? Moon?!” Snatcher picked him up, glancing back at the manor before speeding away to his tree.

Please… please be okay. Please...

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Moonjumper slowly opened his eyes, the pain in his ribs still throbbing. He looked around, and saw that he had ended up in Snatcher’s tree. More so, he was laying on Snatcher’s lap, the book in their hands hovering above him. He tried to speak, but the only things that came out were coughs. Snatcher immediately put his book down and peered over Moon, carefully sitting him upright. After he was done coughing, Snatcher spoke.

“Hey, you’re finally awake. You feeling any better?”

“I… a little bit, yes,” Moon said, grimacing when another shot of pain flared as he tried to readjust himself.

“Take it easy, you were hurt pretty badly. Here, lemme help you,” Snatcher gently laid him back down, his hand serving as a pillow for Moon’s head.

“How did… how did you find me out there? It’s not like I made much noise,” Moon asked.

“I was just doing my rounds around the forest and, well… there you were.”

“Rounds? Again? You’ve been doing them more and more often, is something the matter?” Moon gave him a concerned look.

“Just been anxious, I guess. Don’t worry about it,” Snatcher said, looking back at his book laying on the small table by his chair. Moon didn’t believe this, but he didn’t have the energy to pry, so for now he let it rest. Sleep tugged at him, and soon he was fast asleep again, leaving Snatcher to his book and worries.

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About a week had passed, and Moon had steadily gotten better. Surprisingly, corpse flesh heals much faster than regular flesh. Snatcher also insisted to help him fix his jacket, so that also delayed his departure by a bit. He turned to Snatcher, floating in the doorway of his tree, to say his thanks for helping him, but Snatcher spoke before he could.

“Hey, MJ? Why were you even in the manor in the first place?” He asked.

Moon hesitated. He had initially wanted to keep it a surprise, but seeing as he didn’t even manage to get it, he saw no point in not telling him.

“I went there to get you one of your old books. I know how much you miss them, and I thought it-” Moon stopped mid sentence, surprised.

Snatcher’s expression had shifted, his eyes had widened and looked like they almost had tears in them, and his smile had disappeared. It was unusual to see a ghost do this, and even more unusual for Snatcher.

“Snatcher, are… are you alright?” Moon asked, hoping he hadn’t sprung a nerve bringing up something from his past.

“Y-yeah… I’m fine. Just, a little shocked that you’d do something so stupid for me, heh.” Snatcher tried to put on his usual smile, but it just wouldn’t come fully.

Moon warily spread his arms out to offer a hug, and before he knew it Snatcher had scooped him up into his arms. Moon was caught off guard at first, but he quickly relaxed and snuggled into the fur around Snatcher’s neck. They stayed like that for a while, not wanting to leave the other’s embrace. Finally, Snatcher loosened his grip on Moon, and Moon let his arms fall to his sides.

“Well, it looks like I should be going now. Thank you, for everything,” Moon said, floating back a bit. It was Snatcher’s turn to hesitate.

“...H-hold on! I just noticed another rip in your jacket, we should get that fixed before you go. A-and we should probably wait a little longer, just in case you’re still hurt somewhere, y’know? Wouldn’t wanna make it any worse, right?” Snatcher tried to fake a smile, but it was less than convincing. Moon laughed, and Snatcher gave him a confused look.

“You can just ask me to stay, you know.”

“...Would you?” Snatcher asked, hope sparking in him.

Moon let out a sigh. “Sadly, I don’t think I actually can. I’ve already spent much longer out of the Horizon than I should, and I’m not sure what would happen if I stayed out any more. I’m sorry, but I do have to go. Again, thank you.” Moon took Snatcher’s hand in his and placed a kiss gently on it. “Visit me sometime, no?” And with that, he turned and left.

Snatcher watched him float off for a bit before returning to his chair, his emotions on the fritz.

“God, he really is still a prince.”