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The wind whistles breathily amidst cobblestone pathways and dilapidated structures, blowing leaves past the skeletons of buildings that once held so much love, though now tainted by soured actions and evil words.
A cloak brandishing clinking pocket watches sweeps over the ground as the figure it adorns makes its way across the grey floor, steps hurrying as they creep closer and closer to a glowing, blooming cherry blossom tree that sits in the middle of towering, mushroom-themed buildings.
Karl Jacobs' feet come to a halt at the wall bordering the tree, gazing up at it fondly.
A petal falls from a branch, swaying through the air before coming to rest near Karl's boot gently. He picks it up, holding it up against the tree as his eyes squint to examine it closer.
"Karl."
The time traveler turns around slowly, the smallest smile spreading across his lips at the sight of heterochromatic eyes and dirtied clothing.
“It’s been a while, George,” Karl begins, flinging the petal from his grasp carelessly, watching curiously as the brunet before him stared after it as it floated away quietly.
“The tree still looks good.”
Karl laughs gently, turning to look at the towering branches of pink with admiration. “It kind of has to, no? Otherwise this place would finally look like the absolute travesty it's become.”
From the little distance between them George sways on his feet, hands intertwined in a timid grasp as his eyes dance back and forth, here and there.
“How is everyone?” George questions, stepping closer as he attempts to swipe the dirt from his patched sweater.
“Do you really want to know, George?” Karl counters, sitting on the stone wall that holds the tree, gesturing to the spot beside him for the other to sit at. “Come, sit already. You look exhausted.”
Wordlessly George takes his seat on the uncomfortable stone, shifting every now and then as a silence settles between them.
The sun sets, casting the sky in orange. George dares to think of times he used to watch sunsets with Dream and Sapnap.
Back before the server went to shit.
“It’s beautiful, isn’t it?” Karl asks into the air, turning to look at George, eyes soft and welcoming as they gaze at quivering hands and a heaving chest. “So calm, as well.”
“Mhm,” George comments shakily, diverting his gaze downwards and to his hands. They tremble almost as violently as the wind that ripples through the air suddenly.
It’s quiet again. Karl’s legs swing in front of him once every so often as the sun slowly recedes behind the hills far away.
“You haven’t been to the forest again, have you, George?”
George’s eyes widen, quickly looking up at Karl, who still brandishes the same easy smile, though his turquoise eyes have significantly darkened.
It makes George sick.
He tries to say no, his mouth opening so the words can leave his lips. But it's all for not as he thinks of the greenery, of the pale light shining through that one specific open patch in the bundles of trees that make up the forest.
He thinks of the constellation-lined shoulders that glowed in the moonlight that one single time.
“Goodnight, George,” Karl says finally, the smile slipping away at last. “Don’t go back there, please.”
But it’s become a drug to George, even after just the one time he went. The rushing water filling his ears, the smell of the blooming flowers.
And that figure. Decorated in gold skin and freckled shoulders, with flowing blonde hair like the rivers running through the lands.
It almost reminds George of someone he’s tried his damndest to forget, even after so long.
And so he goes back. He knows he shouldn’t, surely he knows based off of the guilt lacing his veins as he ushers the heavy branches of a weeping willow out of the way, sweeping across the plush grass beneath as it fell back in place while George climbed deeper into his stimulant.
Surely he knows, seeing as he peers behind him in a quest for searching eyes he feels will find him one day, eyes he feels will reprimand him and drag him away from the one thing casting the developing pain in him away, even slightly.
It’s calm as George’s boots meet the spot, the one where the figure stood. It isn’t there today; no, instead the patch of illuminated grass is void of shimmering gold light and careful actions, void of the embodiment of an angel fallen from the heavens.
Sometimes George wonders, in his home late at night, if the figure really is something of that origin.
The figure surely isn’t human, that can be told; it’s too beautiful in a world decorated by wither roses, too bright in a darkened place, too God-like in it’s appearance, from what George has seen.
For days, George has pondered just what that thing was, staying up until early dawn reading thick, leather-bound books he stole from Eret and Karl, his eyes registering talk of ghost figures or actual fallen angels or just mere illusions and basic entities.
But George wasn’t losing his mind, he wasn't merely seeing things. He knows it. Everyone knows it. Everyone knows that George is one of the rational people on the server, one that is most responsible and smart, when he wants to be.
So why does he feel like he’s losing his mind?
Maybe it’s because he hasn’t been blessed with golden skin and hair for days, or because he’s spent night after night lying on his back with only the neighboring wildlife and glistening stars to keep him at bay.
And so when it seems as though it’ll be a monotonous repeat of that discouraging feeling that floods his stomach at the lack of the figure, he seeks resolve in the turn of his heel on the soft grass, fighting the urge to slump his shoulders or allow tears to give an outlet for the pain building in him.
That is, until a voice whispers, “George.”
George doesn’t quite catch it, only barely latching on to the small sound amongst the others, but as his voice is called again, he registers it as coming from behind him; he registers it as coming from the place he thought would be empty for the night.
He turns back and is met with his source of light in the midst of darkness; pools of muddy greens, sharp jades and striking viridians that swirl almost animatedly beneath fluttering dark lashes. The freckles scattered about a sculpted upper half glow white against the darkened tan of flawless skin, drawing George’s gaze to and from their unusual brightness, almost like the constellations that watch from above.
Yeah, definitely not human.
George watches with careful intent as his name is breathed past soft pink lips again, his mind growing fuzzy as he steps closer and closer, hands no longer trembling and head no longer thumping with racing thoughts.
He musters out quietly, “Hello?” tilting his head as the figure mirrors his action, a small, barely-there smile taking over its lips.
“Hello, George,” the figure whispers, head turning up to gaze at the stars slowly, eyes flooding with admiration and glee. “They’re beautiful, aren’t they?”
Like a fish to bait, George feels drawn in, his head spinning as his feet still draw him closer to the figure, until they’re nearly side by side, both necks craned to gaze upwards. “They are,” he replies softly, fighting a grin as those gentle eyes look down at him, veiled behind dirty blonde locks that look soft as feathers to the touch. “Have you never seen them before?” He notices an X-shaped scar running through those eyes then, pale pink against tan, something he surely couldn't have noticed from feet away.
The figure sits, fingers moving to pick at a nearby growing dandelion. “I have. But they’re just so pretty, y’know?”
Like you.
George swallows, nodding as he crosses his legs and sits beside the other, gesturing to the flower held in careful fingertips. “Blow on it.”
The blonde is wordless as he stares shamelessly at George, eyebrows raising slightly as that same smile etches upon perfect skin. “Why?” it asks with a small chuckle, gaze directing back to the flower. “Then it will all blow away, and I won’t be left with anything but the stem.”
The words are spread through the air gentler than the dandelion seeds gently drifting in the subtle wind, barely spoken and making a sound amidst the other sounds of the forest that encompass the two.
“What’s your name?” George questions with a feather-soft tone, shifting his gaze to the viridian that bores into him delicately.
The figure taps his left breast with a fingertip, applying emphasis to small, scarred letters reading “XD.” It smiles, tilting his head again. “XD, I suppose.”
The X in the etched name of the other nearly resembles the scar carved into freckled skin.
“XD,” George repeats, eyes trailing over the letters and to the light sparkles covering his shoulders. “What’s with the things on your shoulders? Are they stars?”
“They are,” XD says, looking at his own skin as if he’s seen it for the first time.
“Do you know what you even are?”
Maybe nostalgia or simple remembrance pass over XD as he mutters, “A fallen star is what they told me,” another small smile forming on his lips. “I probably shouldn’t be telling you this.”
“And I shouldn’t be here,” George says, sadness overwhelming him as he looks at the ground. “And yet here we are.”
.
.
.
.
.
Even after being reprimanded so many times by the only few people who gave mere ounces of care to George anymore, he still goes to the forest.
And every night, beneath that damned moonlight that portrayed angled features in bathed perfection, George sits with someone who contentedly plucks flowers and holds them up as if they were the rarest thing in the world, even though the pair laid amongst beds of them.
The air smells of sweet succulents and aromatic hyacinths, and the water is louder than usual.
“There’s the Lyre and Virgo,” XD observes, pointing to the sky with a knowing finger, turning to look at George, who watches the other with gathering amusement.
Those jade pools glow almost magically as they gaze towards George, and he can’t help the scarlet blush that creeps onto his cheeks at the action. “You know them so well,” he reflects, eyes casting over the other’s face.
“I was made to, I suppose,” XD says in response, twisting the flower held in his other fingers playfully. “Just like you were made to be here.”
“I was?” George asks, eyes full of wonder as the stars shone in his eyes.
XD sits up slowly, eyes lingering on the flower it holds until he lifts it into the air and towards George, who also resumes a sitting position. “Indeed you are. You’re drawn here every night, even if I might not be able to come.” The flower, a small daisy, is tucked behind George’s ear and into his curling, overgrown brown hair, a smile full of the beauties of the galaxies and the brightness of the burning stars above taking place on freckled cheeks and revealing dazzling ivory teeth.
“I wish I could say you were wrong,” George says softly, scarlet turning to crimson on white marble complexion as viridian stares back at him intensely.
It nears the resemblance of a painting, as XD’s face is illuminated in the most pleasing of ways, eyes dancing under fluttering dark lashes that George wishes he could reach out and brush his fingers upon, wishes he could feel against his own skin. The forestry behind him doesn’t help, only applying that much more beauty to the ethereal being before him.
“Are all stars as beautiful as you?” George questions quietly, head cocking to the side as XD’s lips part wordlessly. “Are all stars even human-like like you?”
The entity is rendered speechless, fingers plucking the grass beneath. “I-I don’t know, to be frank, George. I appreciate the compliment, though, especially coming from the likes of you.”
George smiles, humming as he reaches a hand out to brush his thumbs along the angular cheekbones that have been nagging at him. “Not at all, nothing compares to you XD. You may not be able to see, but you are a truly ethereal being.”
Though neither man thought it possible, a gentle pink settled upon the blonde’s freckled cheeks, pulsing darker and lighter in tandem with XD’s beating heart as George’s hand was guided down to the other’s chest by a feather-light grasp on his wrist.
“You did that to me,” XD says bluntly, awe painted boldly in swirling greens and soft reds. “That’s never happened to me before.”
“Yeah?” George whispers, leaning closer, knocking their knees together. “And as you to me,” he continues, grabbing XD’s hand and spreading it across his own chest, the warmth of an inexperienced palm running a shiver through the brunet’s spine.
Their foreheads slotted against each other near perfectly, George’s eyes trailing across every minor detail of the other he didn’t have the pleasurable idea of knowing about before; the small scar running near XD’s nostril, the more freckling on one cheek rather than the other, the way one of his beautiful eyes held more vibrant colouring than the other.
It’s nothing yet everything; George registers they’re just eyes, simple eyes that he normally pays no mind to on the others that he’s known for years. And yet with XD, everything he notices, feels, is amplified, put under a microscope and observed so carefully by his own gaze, until it’s ingrained in his brain like he wants and desires it to be.
XD is captivating, magical, perfect, and everything George could’ve dreamt of.
.
.
.
.
.
Another confrontation.
George expects it to be the usual deal, the matter of his sanity being questioned by clueless grey and turquoise eyes; yes, both Karl and Sapnap stand on the forest edge, gazes lowered to the mossy ground and dirtied boots they each wore.
“George,” Karl starts as George walks up to them. “Can we talk to you?”
The brunet lifts a clueless brow, nodding warily as he said, “Yeah, what’s up?”
“Have you been going in the forest more?” Sapnap burst out, in a very contrasting fashion to that of his fiancé, hand gripping the hilt of his sword.
George’s stomach swirls with uncertainty, guilt, and the slightest annoyance at the actions of the other two. “I have, and it’s no matter to either of you.”
A pleading tone replaces gentle as Karl questions, “But why? What is in there that is captivating you every night?”
George could be honest and say the truth; he could tell them of the beautiful being who strolled into his world on two golden feet and adorned in glittering skin and freckles; he could tell them of XD, a being fallen from the heavens and emulating the brightest, most enchanting star in the sky.
Or, as he usually resolves to do, George could be deceitful; he could tell a simple lie, that he just goes on strolls for hours at a time, that he merely talks to himself, rather with someone who has become his everything and more in a matter of days.
“I just go on walks to clear my mind, honestly,” George states calmly, ignoring the pang in his head, nagging at him to quit lying so much. “You guys don’t need to keep worrying about me.”
“So surely we can accompany you then,” Sapnap suggests nonchalantly. “Surely we can talk with you during these walks, about your walks and what you do during them. Because I’m- we’re sure you don’t just walk around a small forest for hours at a time.”
George scoffs quietly, saying, “I’m that hard to believe anymore, huh? Even the simplest action of walking has to be chastised by you two?”
“Well when you’ve barely been around anymore, yes. Yes, we do have to chastise you and monitor you over every little thing, but it’s only because of your own actions.” Sapnap huffs, glancing at Karl before leaning closer to him and saying in a low tone, “This was a dumb idea, let’s just leave.”
Karl tugs on the exposed sleeve of the raven-haired man, eyebrows furrowed beneath disarrayed hair. “No, we’re staying, Sapnap.” A small whisper that George shouldn’t have heard is passed, as well: “Do you want him to come back or not?”
George frowns, crossing his arms across his chest. “What the hell does that mean?” he questions incredulously, anger simmering and bubbling in his chest. “Why do you guys keep saying shit like that?”
“Because you’ve changed ever since Dream got put in prison, George!” Sapnap yells, throwing his hands out and marching towards George, pointing a finger at a stuttering chest. “You’ve been so secretive and deceitful and mean to the both of us, even when we needed you! And did you even know we needed you? Probably not!”
“Sapnap,” George starts, stepping back.
Sapnap looks away before casting a glare to Karl, saying with a heightened hand, “Don’t, George, just don’t.”
He walks away, leaving Karl to stare wordlessly at George, condescension dripping from him like rain from the sky as he gazes with worry and pity in turquoise orbs. “Do you see now, George?” he finally says after a pregnant beat, only filled with rustling leaves and the scrape of boots against the ground. “Do you see what your actions have done?”
A harsh scoff is all he can manage in response, darting his eyes away for fear of pinpricking tears to visit his waterline. “Leave, Karl. I’m not worth your time anymore.”
George doesn’t know what he expects.
“Don’t come back to Kinoko Kingdom, George. You’re never there anymore anyways.”
It might be the last blow George could’ve been dealt, and yet the biggest one.
So he resolves to head back into the forest; the reason for his own undoing, for his relationship with other’s undoing.
XD is waiting, head burrowed in the grass, silky gold waves against muddy green.
George’s heart stutters, tears forming as he tries not to collapse.
Because everything has officially gone to shit for him. His last source, besides XD, has abandoned him finally, leaving him by himself again, just like Dream.
XD looks like him.
“XD,” George whispers, settling down beside the other as burning trails are finally painted on his cheeks, tainting red as they fall to the ground, keeping his gaze down as he plucks at the grass below him.
“George,” the being says, sitting up quickly and cupping dampened cheeks in warmer palms. “Why are you crying?”
A small, sadistic chuckle leaves George, a hint of feigned glee amidst wallowing pity. “Because I have nothing anymore, Dream.”
He doesn’t catch himself.
“Dream?” XD questions, tilting a blonde head delicately.
“I’m sorry, I meant XD,” George tries to correct, rubbing a fist against his cheeks, pushing the other’s fingers away from his skin, even as he longs for that comforting touch once more. “I don’t know what’s gotten into me.”
“No need to apologize,” XD says quietly, shifting until he leans back on two hands. “I don’t like seeing you cry,” he adds, gentle as his eyes scan warily across George’s cheeks.
The brunet smiles sadly, looking up.
The stars are brighter than normal, complemented by the whiteness of the rising moon.
He figures there’s a beauty in the sky, waiting to fall like XD. Maybe they’re brighter, maybe they’re duller. Maybe they won’t live to see what their contrasting mortals see.
“I have you still, right?” George asks, breathed past cracked, upturned lips.
Confusion paints the other weakly for a moment as George looks over, but not tough enough to remain gazing at the intensity of mere green pools.
“You’ll stay with me, right XD?”
He hears the other scoot closer, until their thighs are flush and their hands are clumsily tangled together atop the grass. Lips pepper his knuckles with kisses, gentle as he finally feels the numbness of the past events reach his body.
If he thinks hard enough, he can feel everything fading from him with every peck placed onto his skin by velvety, pink lips.
“I’ll stay as long as you want me to, George.” Spoken quietly yet speaking volumes, George’s eyes slowly slide to the other’s, vision blurry as he falls into the other’s chest, sides hitting the earth with ease as he’s encapsulated by strong golden arms.
If he thinks hard enough, he can feel the hope for a new beginning, however far or near, reaching into and squeezing his heart. And maybe the one squeezing it is a hand crafted purely by the gods above, attached to that of a figure he’s come to know as XD; ethereal in every way, beautiful in every light, enchanting with every action and word taken.
Surrounded by hyacinths and swaying weeping willows, George thinks he’d never have conjured an event of this caliber to happen to him.
And yet the beauties of the sky, abstract and glorious, had their own plans. Plans detailed in golden skin and hair, glowing freckles, and a strong body, with a name so odd yet holding so much comfort now;
XD.