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The newfound sun in the sky blared down upon singed brown hair, lighting up a miserable face. There was cheering all around, the thrill of the suns return bringing back a joy once lost to the people of forgotten realms. It’s warmth, however, was lost to the child sitting before the grave. Try as it might, the sun could not brighten his poor soul.
Everything felt wrong, the cheering, the sun, being here without… Them.
If he were able to, he knew he’d still be crying, sobbing over the loss of the one person who liked him. That was it, wasn’t it? They liked him too. They liked him back, and he didn’t even get to hear it.
To get it secondhand from his friends, watching them scramble to assist him in getting the—the body from the office and into the car had helped in easing the pain. He wasn’t fully alone in his mourning, but he was alone in just how deep that mourning was. From the very start, he liked them. They were different—In a good way. Their dedication to their craft was admirable and the charm that came with didn’t go unnoticed. And yet they did.
Normal knew that they felt ignored, that being disregarded affected them in ways they never wanted to talk about… And he understood. He knew what it was like to go unnoticed even when being surrounded by others. He knew what it was like to be put off not only by his friends, but his dad as well. The connection he felt to them was stronger than a desire to fix them. Normal truly liked them. Normal wanted them to get better together.
It was an unfair ending to such a grand character.
Their final scene had gone down dramatically, that much Normal was sure, but it was delivered to the wrong audience. He felt a pang in his chest as his throat grew tighter. Maybe he wasn’t done crying.
He couldn’t fathom the loss. Despite his current feelings for a certain scammer, he could at least agree that he never saw it ending this way. They weren’t meant for death, they were meant to be his future life partner. If they were gone, what hope did Normal have to hold onto? Without them, the air felt colder, less lively. If the show was over, then where was their curtain call? Where was the applause? The flowers thrown on stage in recognition of such a beautiful performance? Where was their recognition? They had earned at least that much.
It wasn’t fair, Normal decided. It wasn’t fair that they got to be so great only for the world to treat them so cruelly. If he could, he would go back in time. He’d go back in time to save them, or to give them the attention they deserved, maybe to even kill their dad like they had asked so long ago. Anything, anything for them to come back. It wasn’t fair.
Finally, the tears slip from his eyes, a small mutter of, “It’s not fair,” squeezing it’s way through his teeth-bitten lips. His body wracks with sobs, the weight of the days events pushing on him until he was truly inconsolable.
"Hm.” A breeze blows through his hair as a familiar weight settles beside him. “The symbolism here is… Impressive.”
He gasps through his sobs as he turns to the voice, a choked cry escaping his throat. “H—Herm…?” He can’t bring himself to say it.
They shrug, knees pulled to their chest. Their arms hang loosely around their legs as they eyes the grave. “This was on purpose, yes?” They points to the half burned tree in front of them. “Otherwise it’d be quite the coincidence.”
Normal sniffles, wiping his nose as he nods. He’s lost for words, wanting to say everything but also wanting to just enjoy this moment.
They hum once more, laying their chin on their knees. “You are… Sentimental.”
"Sorry…” He tries to laugh, but it’s interrupted by a sudden onslaught of tears.
The figure beside him huffs, though there’s a sad smile on their face. “No I—I like the sentiment. At least someone cares.” They chuckle, though Normal recognizes the sadness in their eyes.
When he sobs once more, they raise their brows, blinking in surprise. “It’s not that bad…”
“I—Should have fixed it… I could have… But nothing was working and I couldn’t do anything—” His breathing was quick, hands tugging at hair as he worked himself into a frenzy of self doubt and guilt. “This wasn’t—This wasn’t supposed to happen. You—” He looks up, meeting their gaze before his eyes blur with more tears and he has to turn away. “I was… I was supposed to fix it.”
They shrugged, their gaze still trained on him in a way that felt more as if they were looking through him. Even then, they could read him like an open book. “You weren’t supposed to do anything… Besides, I—” They sighed, finding the confession too difficult to give when looking at him. “I was a lot. You are a lot—” Normal gave a pitiful attempt at laughter. “Really, I think it’s for the best it’s over.”
"I don’t want it to be ‘over’…”
"I know.”
“I want you here. With me.”
"I—I know…”
He wiped the tears from his eyes, his lip trembling as he forced himself to give them a little smile. “I’m sorry…”
"You already said that.”
"I still mean it.”
Silence befell them, neither willing to break it for the sake of apologies or making sense of things. Nothing had made sense in a long time. Doodlers and goof realms—Representations of who they are that didn’t make sense in their own right. It almost felt like to make sense of themselves would mean everything really was over. Closure that they never had felt like the final step. Normal didn’t want to take that final step.
“Well—" they started, standing to their feet as they brushed off their dual-colored suit jacket. It was refreshing getting to see them this way. The red was not that of their own blood, but purposely colored to represent their infatuation with the batman rogue’s gallery. There was no hole in their chest that would make Normal grab his own in sympathy. “—I’m sorry… too.” They refused to meet his eye, staring at the grave once more.
“You don’t—”
“I do.”
“I—”
“Didn’t do anything wrong. I just—” Normal had yet to see them in a position of such vulnerability, the upset on their face giving him odd reason to smile. “Don’t laugh at me…” Their own grin broke through as they side eyed him, their voice soft with a fondness he had craved for such a long time.
"I’m sorry—”
“Oh my god.”
“I am! I don’t know what else to say… I really tried to fix this…” Their expression took on the same fondness of their voice.
"I know.”
“I—I like you…” He rested his chin against his knees as they had done before, feeling a rustle of wind in his hair.
“I like you too.”
The fondness in their voice strikes him hard this time, bombarded by a love he wants to believe in. But he’ll never know if they were telling the truth.
When he turns to face Hermie, they’re no longer there.