Chapter Text
The whole ordeal of living in the Time Room as his punishment was unnerving, the new two dimensional form took a long while to get used to, his new assignments were considerably friviolous and an insult to his competence.
Compared to his previous role of the God Auditor, which demanded skill and years of practice, it was a sharp tear into his dignity. He took pride of the importance of his previous job and the efficiency of his every performance, even if some his higher ups didnt hold him in high regard, noone could deny that he was simply the best at what he did.
He liked feeling unreplaceable.
However, as years passed it began to become monotonous and he felt he was competent enough to do something of greater importantce.
He had been entirely devoted to executing every job his superiors required of him.
He had worked hard for it and deserved to become The Wishmaster.
But this was not it. Sharing the position with Prismo of all people.
That wasn't even the worst part of the punishment.
They weren't equals. He was there to serve his punishment, delegated only to trivial duties that could be described as far as ones of an apprentice or an assistant. Or a servant.
An mere servant of the Wishmaster.
How indignifying.
Of course it could've been worse than this. Scarab could have been stripped off a job completely, millenias of all the effort to flawlessly finish every task, to execute it with precision of the most proficient god auditor lost and unaprecciated by his superiors.
Maybe here, after he proves he has learned his lesson, he will be able to return to his old life.
Or Orbo could have ripped his legs off.
He shivers at the thought.
However none of that happened.
Thanks to Prismo.
Prismo vouched for him, to lessen his punishment despite everything.
Prismo, the same guy he tried to get rid off, replace, whose work he wished to destroy, who he had considered and incompetent fool, unfit for the position of Wishmaster, who he had resented more than any of the gods.
He didnt know why Prismo would do such a thing. He wasn't even sure if even Prismo himself did, even though he tried to conceal it with his carefree additude, constantly trying to instigate some kind of interaction between them. Pretending as if they were old friends, as if nothing ever happened, it was maddening.
Regardless of what Prismo wanted to act like, at times he would slip up and show what Scarab considered to be his true feelings, acting with as much distain towards the ex-god auditor as was mutual, like he was regretting his decision. Why would he want him around at all?
Scarab didn't understand what Prismo was thinking.
To be fair he never has, at all. And he had no desire to try to. No desire to be on 'friendly' terms with someone like that. Not again.
At least that's what he would have said before he was forced into the Wishmaster's proximity.
As the days passed, dealing with the horrible blemish on his reputation this whole situation had caused, slowly, he found himself less bitter about carrying out the tasks he was assigned.
Cleaning out the spiderwebs, or at least trying to, given that he wasnt exactly in the right dimensional form for it, throwing out the trash, as if that insufferable pickle addict couldn't do it himself.
He still made sure to complain about it loudly. Though with not as much venom as before.
Sometimes the ex-god auditor, against his resolve, would begin to indulge in conversation with the Wishmaster. Not to taunt or insult, just to pass the time.
Although most of it was coming from Prismo. The guy always loved going on tangents about the most insignificant things, there was no point in telling him to be quiet.
Scarab learned to tolerate it.
Sometimes. Not enough to let his guard down and abandon all his notions, naturally. He wasnt going to cave in just because of a few non-hostile interactions.
⫸⫸⫸
It's been a few weeks of them living together. Prismo has been sitting and typing something into his laptop for a while.
Scarab, once again, on cleaning duty. The atmosphere was peaceful, each of them working on their own without much thought.
The conversation started seemingly on itself one of them mentioning work, from which the topic shifted to their superiors, not that Scarab would indulge in something like office gossip. Afterall, he never would be so stupid as to disrespect authority.
Even now.
He moved to another corner of the time room to clean up some dust.
But he let a few compliants slip, mostly about Orbo, nothing too serious. He was just still a little bitter about how he has been punishment.
How could he be so stupid as to let himself share what he really thought with Prismo. Was he looking for sympathy? Why would he expect him to understand?
"Oh, no, I think Orbo let you off easy" The other stated, still typing on the laptop. Prismo sounded so careless with that upbeat voice of his.
It made his blood want to boil.
He felt the anger build up inside him, but didn't say anything. He was not going to let something like this disturb his good mood.
Prismo looked up at Scarab, smiling "It propably helped that I put in a good word for you"
Of course he would boast about it, how great he is. Scarabs hands squeezed the broom tighter as he leaned forward, more fiercely than intended, to reach a dirty spot.
"Maybe you'll even get to grant a wish in a couple of years, but you gotta pay your dues first" The Wishmaster continued.
"Only people who never pay their dues say that" Scarab grumbled under his breath, dragging each broom stroke with more aggression. When he "paid his dues". Saying that Orbo obviously had meant 'never', the other was just rubbing it in.
If Prismo heard him he gave no indication of doing so.
"Hey, Scarab" He heard Prismo call out but ignored the other, not bothering to turn around. The Wishmaster paid his disinterest no mind as he continued. "Why dont you take five, I'll show you how to use my character creation program" At that Scarabs head perked up. He halted the repetative motion of swinging the broom and turned to see Prismo foolishly grinning at him.
He quietly scoffed at the sight but put down the broom and trod reluctantly to take a look at what Prismo wanted to show him nonetheless.
There was no point in staying mad right now, so he complied.
He wasn't supposed to take part in creating universes, so the act of Prismo disregarding the rules so blatantly again was just distasteful. To be fair that wasn't exactly what they were doing, but it was close enough to not stop the conditioning of his irritation.
Nevertheless, he leaned in to see the contents of the laptop.
"So, I like to start with an overall theme" explained Prismo, gesturing at the presented programme. "How about... true heroes" The Wishmaster reached out to start typing.
"No, wait." since he was subjected to this, he might aswell do it on his own terms. "Put in..." He hesitated for a second but seeing that Prismo stopped, curious as to hear what his request was, he presumed "Dark medival mystery drama"
"...Wow, okay" Prismo mumbled. He didnt seem that fond of the idea but went along either way.
As the theme was created the program saved it and new windows popped up.
So much of them.
It was clear that the system was supposed to be viewed on something greater than a small device like this.
"Why do you use something as insubstantial as a simple laptop for this anyway?" Scarab voiced his concern letting his cynical tone shine through.
The other, though, ignored the intonation of the question and anwsered honestly.
"Oh it lets me get a better grip" He wiggles his fingers projected on top of the keyboard "Helps me get into that feeling, you know"
Scarab felt the urge to roll his eyes. This approach to things was so idiotically mortal
and so Prismo
The Wishmaster went through the next steps to take from here, Scarab providing the content to put in.
They looked over the script again.
Prismo raised his hand to his chin
"Hey, this is really good" He seemed genuinely impressed with what they had created.
They both seemed pleased with the outcome.
Scarab smiled to himself.
Of course it was only reasonable that he was a natural at this.
⫸⫸⫸
On this day they were wroking on a script to a universe Prismo described as a 'Collage AU' of some sort.
They finished the overall design and patched any plothole that could lead to paradoxes or any other disasters. Looking over universes was an important job afterall, not just any entity could manage to keep it all in order. That's why it was perfect for him.
Though after all the necessary safety checks came also the fun part, like creating the characters. Many would argue (and they were wrong), but he wasnt that boring to pass a little fun.
It could be nice to get an outlet for his creativity. Only in order to create something greater, of course.
Most of the characters were alternate versions of already existing characters from an universe Prismo reffered to as his favorite one, because it had his 'favorite guy' whatever that meant. He didnt seem keen on elaborating... its not like Scarab cared anyway.
They got to the part of redesigning Princess Bubblegum and Marceline to fit this new world. He let Prismo handle that part, their whole relationship was in this case too... fluffy, for his liking.
Nevertheless, Scarab wasn't going to just let Prismo decide on everything. This work obviously needed more of his input.
He let out a thoughtful hum and raised his hand to the screen.
"You should make them roommates"
"Oh my Golb they were roommates" Prismo chukled, more to himself than anyone. After a short thought spoke again "Hey, they're just like us" He looked to Scarab, still with that dumb smile on his face. The other didn't share his content though.
"...Don't be ridiculous"
The revelation of what he actually said dawned on him.
"Oh- uh I didnt- um I didnt mean it like that" The words spattered. Prismo's face dropped as he laughed nervously. "Its just that- They're roommates. And so are... we ..." The entity swallowed, even though he didn't have the need for it.
Scarab's frown only deepened. He didn't plan to dignify that with an anwser, only turned back to keep working.
Prismo followed in shortly, the previous exchange intended to be forgotten, but the tension in the air remained for a long time.
⫸⫸⫸
It could be said the their 'learning sessions' became a habit. Though Scarab didnt really need to learn, as the program was easy to get a hang of.
Well, no, the program in itself was actually very convoluted, with incomprehensible options and lots of akwardly placed controls. Hinghsight, what would you expect from a cosmic creation shoved into a small laptop.
He supposed his experience could've came with his new body when he was transfered into the Timeroom.
Often he would find himself just subconsciously knowing what he was supposed to do.
And he was going to give credit where it was earned, Prismo did know what he was doing and had no restraint in sharing all of his knowledge.
So the 'learning sessions' turned into writing new scripts that could be used as a base when they needed it for a wish, then going over Prismo's old drafts, as when Scarab saw how many of them were unused for a long time and took up the storage place he demanded they immidietly fix that mess.
It wasn't really an urgent matter or anything important.
Its not like the system could overload, but Scarab was used to activity of his previous job where each assignmet would come each right after the other, so he wasnt going to pass on an opportunity to do something more productive.
So on ocassion they would sit together, next to the laptop, doing whatever they decided had to be done that day to pass time.
That caused the strain on their relationship to begin softening, the tension in the air that has been present ever since he got there dissolving over time. All the distain turning and twisting into something ever so slightly comforting... almost familliar.
Like it used to be long time ago.
But Scarab shut down that thought as soon as it showed up.
Snapping back to reality, he and Prismo were back to working on his first script, the Dark Medival Mystery Drama Universe, that Prismo decided to just call The Medival Universe, which, in Scarabs opinion was a great way to take away all the refinement from a name.
"So! what do you think?" Prismo gesticulated towards the screen displaying a character sheet.
The character had a dark carnation, his head topped black curls and shoulders covered a light yellow cloak and the most evident part were his bright cyan eyes .
The describtion said he was a Wizard that could make any adventurer's, who managed to get to his tower at the end of the world, desires come true.
Scarab glanced at Prismo, then to the laptop, then back at Prismo and raised his eyebrows.
"Hm... He looks a bit familliar, doesn't he" He said thoughtfully.
"It's a bit of a self insert..." Prismo admitted, grinning and rubbing the back of his neck. He looked back at Scarab who still had the same expression on his face "Oh come on! What, is it such a crime to have a little fun with the concept?"
"In your case maybe it should be" He shook his head slightly. At that Prismo laughed and something in Scarabs stomatch made a flip.
"Say what, maybe you should create your own character" The Wishmaster proposed.
"Alright, why not" Scarab let out a defeated sigh and Prismo grinned.
He reached for the keyboard to type a command for a new character sheet, not noticing that Prismo apparently thought of doing the same.
Their hands brushed above it, or rather their forms... overlayed?
The sudden sensation felt like a bolt of electricity forming in his fingers where they had touched and spreading in a wave across his whole body like goosebumps.
They both immidietly jerked away startled.
"What was that!?"
Scarab didn't anwser, still in a state that tickled his fight or flight response, he shook his hand trying to knock off the tingling sensation and took a deep breath.
He felt like he needed to wait for his heart to slow down, if he had one.
"Why didn't you warn me!?" this time it was Scarab who asked the question.
"About what! How was I supposed to know that would happen?" Prismo finally spoke up "Is it because we touched?"
"I... think so"
"..."
"Have we really never touched before?" Scarab wondered, going thorugh his memories trying to recall anything of this sort.
"Trust me I would remember something like this"
Scarab crossed his arms and looked away trying to gain back his composure.
"Don't do that again"
⫸⫸⫸