Chapter Text
Purpled was drenched.
Rain had soaked his hoodie, darkening the violet fabric to a near black color. The small spherical bulbs glowed faintly from the tips of his antennae, mismatched neon teal-and-purple lights in the middle of darkness. The alien’s pointed ears were flicked downward, raindrops streaming off of the fluff on the ends and landing on his shoulders.
He shuddered, crouching lower to the ground. He heard Tommy’s stomach rumble from next to him, and he elbowed the Brit roughly, earning a curse spat at him in response.
“Ow! What are you-”
Purpled slapped a hand over Tommy’s mouth, using his other hand to gesture for him to be quiet.
“What? I’m hungry, man,” Tommy mumbled, clutching his stomach and sighing impatiently.
Purpled rubbed his temples. “Stop complaining, you moron. We have to be quiet if you’re going to sense anything.” He hated working with other people almost as much as he hated Tommy. He’d only ever interacted with him a few times before, but recently Tommy had been showing symptoms of a strange power Purpled had never heard of, making him somewhat useful to the alien. Being able to sense the presence of spirits was exactly what Purpled needed right now.
Three months ago, Punz had died from some unknown “magic,” all three of his lives stripped from him in one night. Dream’s death message had rang in chat the next morning, with no hint as to how or why he had permadied.
Purpled had never been one to believe in ghosts. Death was permanent to him. If someone died, a new star would appear in the sky for them, sparkling brightly for the next millennia. That was all. They would have no interaction with those still alive, and there was no afterlife. Of course, recently his beliefs had been blurred slightly.
Tommy was practically testimony to the fact that those in the afterlife had some contact with players who were still alive. That made Purpled curious, more than anything.
And now two teenagers were standing on top of a hill in the middle of the night, soaked from a sudden rainstorm and already tired of each other’s company.
“Purpled!” Tommy gasped, making the alien tense.
“What?”
“I feel something, holy fu-”
Purpled shushed Tommy again, his lavender eyes wide. “You’re not bluffing?” he hissed quietly.
Tommy shook his head vigorously, widening his own sky blue gaze and locking it with Purpled’s. “Don’t you hear it? It’s like whispering. Prime, it sounds like Dream,” Tommy whispered hoarsely, his breath suddenly growing shallow and panicked.
“Okay, okay, calm down,” Purpled said. He put his hands on the Brit’s shoulders, narrowing his eyes to slits and continuing to stare at him. “I don’t hear anything. What is he saying?” He watched as Tommy’s gaze clouded over and he stiffened.
“...I don’t know,” Tommy answered slowly.
The rain had stopped, Purpled realized. The alien looked up at where the moon shone through the clouds, bathing him and Tommy in cold moonlight. He lifted his hood over his head, although he quickly regretted it when the heavy waterlogged fabric fell over his eyes. Annoyed, he pushed it back off his head and resumed his attention on Tommy, who had now grown eerily still.
“Yo,” Purpled said after a moment, staring at Tommy. Nothing. “Tommy!” he shouted, snapping his fingers in the Brit’s face and baring his teeth in a snarl.
Tommy squawked in alarm, snapping out of his trance and stumbling backwards. “It was Dream,” he said shakily, swallowing. He tugged on his bandana, blinking rapidly.
Purpled took a step towards Tommy, his gaze lighting up with interest. He kept his mouth shut, however, fixing him with an expectant expression as he waited for him to continue.
“I dunno,” Tommy finally muttered lamely. He swallowed again and fidgeted with his dark green bandana more.
Purpled made a face, clearly dissatisfied with that answer. “Dude, what? No! What did he say? What did you feel? Could you actually sense a dead person’s presence?”
Tommy opened his mouth to respond when shivers ran down Purpled’s spine, making his antennae quiver with panic. He wasn’t cold. He didn’t get cold. Tensing, the alien cast his glance around the clearing, straining his ears to hear for any sounds that didn’t belong to him or Tommy.
The blonde had clamped his jaws shut and was now watching Purpled, baffled. “What?”
“Shh,” Purpled hissed, moving a hand to the hilt of his sword strapped to his side. He glanced over his shoulder, then behind Tommy’s.
There was something here. Purpled knew it. He felt it. The alien's antennae were quivering softly again, and he exhaled quietly. The sudden cold and empty feeling already was gone.
Clouds covered the moon again, making the scene ominously darker, although Purpled could still see relatively well. Tommy, his eyes unadjusted to the sudden darkness, stuck out his arms and began flailing them around. One of his hands smacked Purpled in the face and he yelped in alarm, instinctively gripping Tommy’s wrist with his hands and twisting it away from him a little too roughly.
“OW!” Tommy screamed after the sickening crunch, holding his wrist and jumping backwards. “You just fucking broke my wrist!” he shouted, making Purpled’s ear twitch.
“You hit me in the face!” Purpled shot back, all hopes of contacting another ghost vanishing instantly. “It was instinct!”
“I couldn’t see anything!” Tommy shrieked, fighting back tears. Don’t cry don’t cry don’t cry Tommy- You’re a big man, you don’t cry, he thought, squeezing his eyes shut.
Purpled groaned in frustration, making Tommy recoil. Good Prime, he’s crying. He stalked towards Tommy and prodded him in the shoulder. “Back to your house, now,” he demanded. His antennae began glowing brightly again to offer Tommy some light, and he swore under his breath, pinching the bridge of his nose before starting down the hill. “We’re resuming this tomorrow.”
Tomorrow.
Purpled was worried they would be doing this for many, many more nights, more than just tomorrow. He didn’t know how he was supposed to deal with Tommy that many more times.