Chapter Text
Oh spawn.
He doesn’t remember.
He’s alive and he doesn’t remember.
How does he not remember?
(…)
Today is already going horribly.
My ears are buzzing again, my head is pounding, it’s a bit harder to breathe, and my heart is aching that same way it always does when I think of him. I miss him a lot.
I know the others notice when I have days like this- days when his absence is just too much. Days when all I need is their hand carding through my hair, their voice telling me it’s all going to be okay.
I know the others can tell when I miss a few more stabs than usual, or when my smile is a bit less stable. They all seem a bit more at ease when I smile less, but I couldn’t care less.
His last words: “Please don’t cry. The last thing I want is to see you cry, my Nightshade. I love you.”
So- no matter what anyone else thinks, I’ll keep smiling, for him.
(…)
I feel my head pulse, my vision blurred in pain for just a moment, just long enough to make me miss my backstab. I take off running, feeling the energy of the bright green swords just barely missing me on my left. Chance grabs my shoulder as I pull off to the side.
I jolt a little. “You’re doing it again, Two’.”
“I know that, dear Gambler, but thank you for pointing it out.” I felt my heart ache a bit at my own wording. I felt my smile shake.
“It seems really bad this time. Will you finally tell me what’s goin’ on, Twice’?” He looked at me with genuine concern. “It’s none of your business, dear gambler.” I shot back.
“I can’t help you if I don’t know what’s wrong- also that nickname is getting a bit cheesy. Not that I’m one to talk, though!” Chance giggled at his own joke. I felt my lungs and heart tighten. Azure did that as well.
“…” I paused. “This is nothing you can help me with.”
I feel a pounding of energy as two swords fly through the air, slicing me in two.
(…)
I heard chattering from the kitchen as I sat up off the floor. I could still feel the places that the swords sliced through. It stung. I didn’t flinch like most, though.
I looked over to the kitchen entrance, where I saw Elliot and Builderman talking with someone. The voice was new, yet oddly familiar. My heart clenched a bit, not from grief, but from an odd sense of affection.
That wasn’t right.
That feeling didn’t belong to anyone but my Azure.
No one else could ever own that feeling.
I heard the familiar voice, now yelling, making it much more clear as to who it was. “MY NIGHTSHADE IS HERE?! Where are they?! Oh gosh I need to check on them!”
Azure. Undoubtedly Azure.
Everyone and everything else in the entire cabin seemed to silence at that.
I heard Elliot, clear as day, asking, “you know Two’?”
I knew what came next. Bad move Elliot. I felt my feet move without permission as I ran towards the kitchen. My tail was wagging back and forth, uncontrollable, but contained.
As I walked in, I heard my Azure yelling, “KNOW TWOTIME?? I-“ they looked at me, and I looked at them. I felt my head, lungs, stomach and heart relax at their sheer presence. We stood there, just breathing in eachothers presence for a moment.
I couldn’t do anything about my next actions. It was pure impulse.
I scrambled over to them, hugging him, shoving my face straight into his chest. I sobbed without hesitation. Something in me absolutely shattered when I looked at them. Every wall and window, gone.
I felt comforting arms wrap around my waist, one of their arms moving to brush their hand through my scalp. I bristled at the feeling, then plunged my face deeper into their skin, as if to remove every molecule of air between us. He gently shushed me as I cried, saying every word I’ve needed to hear since he died.
I heard Builderman wonder aloud: “what the-?”
I sobbed a bit harder. I could practically see Azure’s face right now. Seething. I hugged them tighter to redirect their attention. They calmed a bit. I felt them slightly shift to look at Builderman.
“Normally I would say ‘I’ll explain later’, but considering Timey is still clinging to me, and they clearly need it- I won’t. Ask any questions you’d like, but I’ll retain the right to refuse- AND DON’T BOTHER THEM! I’ll handle everything.” Azure stated, perfect as always.
Elliot hummed. “So- you know them? How so?” Starting off with the respectful questions, I see.
“Easy ones first. Good choice of question! Well, I met them in a forest long ago through the… Church of the Spawn.” They replied, hesitating on the last words.
“While I was studying plants, they were gathering firewood, and ended up almost eating a nightshade berry! I had to quickly stop them before they got poisoned, of course, and we ended up becoming friends. I-“ they paused for a moment, looking at me, still shoved into their torso. I nodded into them.
I could practically feel them beaming at my agreement to tell Elliot and Builderman we were dating. They loved talking about our relationship.
He immediately began talking. “-I ended up asking them out, and we’ve been dating since! They’re so sweet aren’t they?!”
I felt an opportunity and couldn’t stop myself.
I reached my hand up to the back of their head and got them to lean down. I quickly kissed them and smiled, sniffing through my tears. “Y-you’re sw-weeter, Dear-rest.”
I let go of them and shoved my face back into their chest. They giggled a bit, kissing the top of my head gently.
I heard Elliot mumble, “oh wow- you aren’t kidding…”
Builderman was the next to speak up, and immediately decided to break the happy atmosphere. “I haven’t seen them act this… vulnerable… since they got here. Any idea what was bothering them?”
I felt Azure tense up. I squeezed them tighter. “What do you mean by that?” They sounded incredibly serious.
“They’re always smiling and calling people by… odd nicknames. They never clean themselves or trim their hair- and don’t even get me started on their eating habits.” Way to expose me, Builderman. Azure’s going to absolutely destroy me.
I felt them tighten their grasp on me in the hug. “Timey.”
“…I know…” I mumbled into their shirt.
“I could tell it was bad when I saw you… but really- it’s that bad right now?” They loosened their grip a bit to go back to combing their hands through my hair.
I didn’t respond, just sobbed a bit.
“Care to let us in on the conversation?” Builderman said. I could clearly envision Elliot flicking him on the back of the head.
Azure sighed. “Timey, they need to know this if you’re living here.”
I didn’t reply again. They sighed once more.
“TwoTime can be a bit… co-dependent on my presence at times. You need to push them to take care of themself or they’ll ignore their own wellbeing.”
“…way to rat me out…” I spoke, muffled by Azure’s shirt. “Oh you be quiet, Love. I’m cleaning you up later.” I mumbled a noncommittal complaint. They huffed lightly at me, though they clearly didn’t mean it.