#postvoidalverse

[voidscattered]

Chekilli glanced over at Wing in concern. Looking at him, now knowing things he’d gone through and especially so how he thought of himself . . . It hurt. He hurt very much for him and he just . . . he’d do anything to take all that away from him. To take away all of Wing’s pain, all of the things that had hurt him. He doubted even wishing could do much for that, at least not immediately, but there were things he could do that might be able to at least start the natural process of healing. Such as counteracting those false and horrifying thought processes and just . . . covering him with as much love as he could possibly give him.

His staring was noticed, though, and he smiled softly at Wing as the other turned to look at him and smile back. Gosh, even just seeing that smile again, after hundreds of years, was enough to make him start to tear up again. He moved closer and gave him a hug, just . . . extremely happy to just have him back again. He’d thought he’d lost him . . . and yet here he was in front of him, alive, and in his arms.

After a bit he pulled away from the hug with a fond smile, before his expression morphed into something serious. “. . . We need to talk, Wing.”

Gaster shifted uncertainly under his creator’s gaze. Did something happen? Did he do something wrong? Stars, had he already done something wrong so soon after reuniting with Chekilli? Did he not like that he and Pearl had a soul bond after all? Was he mad at him? He, he’d become too comfortable in the Underground, acting as if he was anything other than his creator’s assistant simply because his creator hadn’t been around to be assisted, and now he must have annoyed him or stars forbid angered him by doing something wrong. What in the world was wrong with him?

Chekilli scanned Wing’s face, extremely concerned at the alarm and even fear he saw in there. What had they done to him? “Hey,” he said softly, lifting his hand to cup the skeleton’s face. “Hey, hey, Wing. It’s okay. You’re not in trouble or anything. Nothing’s wrong. You’re more than good, actually.”

Gaster hesitated. Had . . . had he really done nothing wrong? Then what did Chekilli want to talk to him about?

His creator sighed. “You know I love you, right?”

“OF COURSE . . .” Where was this going? Why would he preface with this if Gaster had done nothing wrong? What was going on?

“. . . I’ve been told you don’t exactly think the best of yourself.”

He froze. How did he find out about that, he wasn’t supposed to find out about that. He knew it sounded bad and he hadn’t wanted to worry him, even if he felt it to be true. Had . . . had Pearl told him? She was the only one who really knew much about it that Chekilli had met. And she’d told him multiple times over that it wasn’t true so of course she’d talk to his creator about it. Stars . . .

Wing’s expression told Chekilli all he needed to know. Not only was it confirmation that this was in fact a thing, but also that Wing hadn’t been expecting him to know about it and likely had had no intention of telling him. Both of which were incredibly concerning. How long had this been going on? How long had he been suffering through all of this? How long?

He dropped his hand from Wing’s face, instead taking both of his hands in his and squeezing them earnestly. “You’re worth just as much as any other person, Wing. You’re worth just as much as me, as Grillby, as your sons, as Pearl, as everyone else. That is an objective fact.” He hesitated, then asked, “. . . What makes you think you’re so much less than everyone else?”

Gaster hesitated, not . . . not really sure what to do with what was being said. Pearl had already gone over this with him, but it still didn’t exactly feel true and right now, face-to-face with his creator, he didn’t really believe it. Especially not that he was worth as much as Chekilli was. But he was asked a question by his creator, so he needed to answer it. “. . . I WAS MADE AS YOUR ASSISTANT,” he said slowly, uncertainly. “THAT’S . . . WHAT I AM. I’M JUST . . . SIDE HELP. STARS, I DIDN’T EVEN COMPLETELY COME OUT HOW YOU WANTED . . .” How could he be worth as much as everyone else? How could he be worth as much as Chekilli?

Well. That was extremely concerning. “That’s not all your are, though. Geez, Wing, if all I’d wanted was an assistant I wouldn’t have completely tied up my magic into solely creating and taking care of you for four years. If all I’d wanted was an assistant I’d have just asked someone else in the village.” He squeezed his hands again. “I wanted you, Wing. I wanted you as a person. If anything the assistant thing was just an excuse for me to make you, not the reason. I love you, Wing, for everything that you are. For who you are. Not what you were made for. Put me in the same situation but without a need for someone to help me? I still would have made you. I’d been thinking about you years before I actually started prepping for you. I don’t care what you were made for. And I certainly don’t care that you didn’t come out exactly how I pictured. That’s on me, not you. You were my first monster, Wing, I was inexperienced and I overachieved. So no, I don’t care about that. I care about you. I care about you, and who you are now, not what I initially imagined you to be.”

Gaster had . . . well, he had no idea how to respond to any of that, left speechless at the whole thing. But as his creator kept talking, tears pricked at his eyes, and he quickly started wiping them away. Stars, he did not need to start crying in front of Chekilli. But he had no idea what to do with this, this utter and complete love that he was giving him, with words completely contradictory to what he’d believed for hundreds of years now. Instead of everything he’d been worrying about upon Chekilli discovering that something was wrong with him, instead of the annoyance, and disappointment, all he got was just . . . just pure love, and he had no idea what to do with that. Stars, if he could just not. CRY, though.

His attempts at wiping away his tears were stopped when Chekilli grabbed his wrists. “It’s okay, Wing. You can cry. Nothing’s wrong with crying, and nothing’s wrong with you. I love you, Wing, with all of my heart.”

Gaster hesitated, then fell into a hug with him, crying softly into his shoulder. Stars, he just . . . he did not deserve having Chekilli as his creator. He really didn’t. But he was so, so lucky to have him. He could still scarcely believe that he’d just been so . . . accepting of him and everything he’d done wrong. And loving. He had no idea what to do with it.

“It’s okay, Wing,” Chekilli said softly, holding his son close. “It’s okay. I’m here. I’m here for you now, and I love you. Nothing’s going to happen to you here.” As he listened to his tears, his expression hardened, staring into the distance. How dare they do this to Wing. How dare they hurt him like this. He hoped, for their sakes, that none of the Monster Hunters were still alive, because he was pretty sure he wouldn’t be able to hold himself back if he ever came across them again.

When Wing finally pulled away, he gave him a soft smile, then paused. “. . . You know, being an assistant was never an obligation, but if you’re having so much trouble with this, then I formally release you from the purpose you were made for.”

Gaster spluttered, startled at the declaration. “WHA- YOU- YOU CAN’T DO THAT!”

“Says who? I’m the one who created you, aren’t I? I can get rid of or change your purpose as I please. So it’s gone now! Goodbye! No more of this assistant stuff! Your new purpose is to just be yourself, with the addition of taking care of yourself, and that’s it.”

Gaster opened and closed his mouth several times, wanting to say something against that but not finding any words or reasoning to back him up. Chekilli wasn’t wrong, he was his creator, he could just do that. But he had no idea how to respond to it.

His purpose was to be himself? What was he supposed to do with that? So much of himself and how he thought of himself was based around being an assistant, being someone who helped. What was he supposed to do now? Who . . . Who was he without that? He looked at him helplessly. “I . . . I DON’T . . . KNOW . . . HOW . . . ?”

Chekilli frowned. “. . . You don’t know how for which part?”

“I . . . I DON’T KNOW HOW TO SET MYSELF APART FROM MY PURPOSE . . . UH, MY . . . PREVIOUS PURPOSE?” That was . . . That was really weird to think about, that he wasn’t supposed to act as that anymore. He. He didn’t know what to do with himself.

Well that was concerning. “. . . Well, let’s see. The Wing I know is in love with the night sky. He’s very curious and likes learning new things and takes very well to it. He’s fascinated with magic. He’s a very caring person, to all creatures. And apparently he’s quite accomplished if he’s now the top scientist amidst all monsters. Wing, you’re so much more than what your purpose has been. You’re so much apart from that. And I love you for that. Not because of what you’ve done to fulfill your purpose, but because of who you are.”

Gaster . . . supposed . . . But he still wasn’t sure what to do with all that, so he latched onto the one thing he did know he could respond to. “BECOMING THE ROYAL SCIENTIST WAS SHEER LUCK. I WAS JUST IN THE RIGHT PLACE AT THE RIGHT TIME, AND THERE WEREN’T MANY MONSTERS LEFT TO COMPETE. THAT WASN’T ME.”

What . . . Was Wing’s first reaction to a compliment immediately denying it? He was just getting a worse and worse picture of how badly he was in this thought process . . . “Wing, you figured out how to make magic artificially. You created something that allowed monsters to thrive in a situation designed to stifle them into dust. And who knows what else you’ve made? That was you, Wing. That is you. And none of that is staying on the sidelines as a mere assistant to everybody else.”

Gaster hesitated. Was that true? Was that him, unconnected to his purpose? Was it good for him to not be connected to it? It was what he was made for, after all . . . But Chekilli was changing that now. He was giving him a new purpose. And he still felt like he was flailing without a grip to latch onto. “E- . . EVEN IF ALL THAT IS TRUE, HOW . . . HOW WOULD I EVEN TURN THAT INTO A PURPOSE? HOW . . . WHAT WOULD I EVEN DO?”

“You do whatever you want to do, Wing. Do what you enjoy. And don’t try to help others more than you’re able. I’m not telling you to never help them, helping people is part of your personality, but you don’t have to put them above yourself, and especially not to the point of actually harming yourself.”

“BUT WHAT IF THEY NEED IT?” Gaster said immediately. “I CAN’T JUST LEAVE THEM WITHOUT HELP IF THEY NEED IT.” And he still felt like he wasn’t really worth that much . . . Pearl, Chekilli, and his therapist had been trying to tell him otherwise, but it still felt like . . .

“If they need it, and if helping would result in harming you, then ask somebody else to help instead. It’s okay to let others help instead. And if it’s not an immediate problem, then you could also just wait until you’re doing better, until you can handle it without being hurt by it yourself. And along those lines, it’s okay to let others help you. You don’t have to do things by yourself. Humans and monsters are social creatures, Wing. We’re not meant to go through things on our own. It’s okay to let others help you, too. Okay?”

“I . . . I . . . O-OKAY.” He . . . couldn’t really figure out any other excuses, and he still wasn’t sure what to do with this. Suddenly changing his purpose . . . That was a big change, and he hadn’t been expecting it, much less prepared for it. He . . . was going to need some time to process it. He was supposed to just . . . be himself? That was it? Be himself and take care of himself? Stars . . .

Chekilli smiled softly at him, squeezing his hands before letting him go. “Good.” He knew releasing him from his purpose wouldn’t stop him from wanting to help others; of course not, that was ingrained into his very being. He’d intentionally made him a very kind person who liked to help. But he didn’t want him to consider himself lower than others because of it, and especially not less of a person.

He didn’t even know how much this would help. It had to be a deeply ingrained thought process if it had lasted for so long and was as bad as Pearl seemed to think. But hopefully getting rid of his purpose like that would at least kick the logic out from underneath it and start that process of healing.

He really shouldn’t have overachieved with Wing, if the results had given him this much insecurity over himself. Well, no, most of this had come from what the Monster Hunters had done to him, but he had no idea if Wing had ever been feeling any bit of this even before the war and simply hadn’t said anything. He hoped he hadn’t . . .

“. . . Wing, be honest with me. Even before the war, had I ever done anything that ever gave you any impression that any of this, this thinking lesser of yourself was true?”

“WHAT? NO, NO, YOU WERE . . . YOU’VE ALWAYS BEEN AMAZING, CHEKILLI. YOU NEVER DID ANYTHING WRONG.”

He scanned his face, wishing they’d still had the soul bond so he could actually tell whether he was being truthful on this or not. Knowing how his son thought of himself currently, Chekilli was worried that he was simply saying that to avoid making him feel bad. “Are you sure? Are you absolutely sure? Don’t worry about my feelings. I just want to know if there’s anything I need to avoid in the future. I don’t ever want to hurt you, Wing, and if I ever did in the past then I want to know.”

“IT’S FINE, CHEKILLI. YOU DIDN’T DO ANYTHING.” He never felt less before the war. The war is what opened his eyes to his flaws. Or . . . or . . . it’s what . . . gave him . . . false ideas . . . ? Everyone he’d talked to about it seemed to think they were false, anyway . . . They certainly didn’t feel false . . .

“. . . Okay. Okay, good. Just . . . tell me if I ever do, alright? Or, if you can’t bring yourself to, then tell someone else.” He was well aware of the potential power imbalance between creator and created - heck, he’d just used that to change Wing’s purpose, though hopefully for the better - and he didn’t want that to tip into something bad. And communication was key to prevent that from happening.

“. . . OKAY. I’LL TRY.”

“Good. Thank you, Wing.”

The two of them fell silent for a moment, simply . . . enjoying each other’s presence. It had been a very long time since they’d seen each other, after all, and it was just . . . it was really nice to just be with each other again. Neither had thought the other was still alive, and it was incredible to have each other back again.

But the whole creator/created thing was bothering Chekilli still. The dynamic really didn’t seem to be helping things, and while he didn’t view Wing as something he could just . . . do whatever he wanted with because he was his own thing he created, and he absolutely didn’t view him as property, it was starting to seem like Wing might be viewing him as such, as someone who held that kind of control over him, and that was extremely concerning. Was there any way they could change that? Like he had with Wing’s purpose? Any way to get rid of that? Well . . . the only thing actually tying the two of them together, the soul bond, was already gone. Maybe bring his attention to that? And to the way Chekilli viewed him?

“. . . Hey, Wing,” he ventured.

“MM?”

“You’re free now. Well, you were never required to do anything due to being someone I created, but since you seem to be having trouble with this: I’m officially setting you free. It’s not like we have the soul bond anymore, anyway, so consider that the symbol of us breaking that relationship.”

“I-I, WHAT? WHAT- BUT- YOU STILL ARE THE ONE WHO CREATED ME. THAT’S NOT A THING THAT CAN BE CHANGED.”

“Maybe not, but that doesn’t mean the dynamic has to be the same. Besides, that was never how I viewed you. I never thought of you as something I could just do whatever I wanted with. You know how I thought of you? How I still think of you?”

“. . . HOW?”

He leaned forward, squeezing his hands. “As my son.”

Gaster froze, then looked away. He knew Pearl had been very insistent on that, but it still didn't feel right. There was a difference, between a monster and a child. "I’M NOT YOUR SON, CHEKILLI.”

“And why not?” he asked, slightly indignant. “It may have been by a different mechanism, but you came from my magic, and I raised you and took care of you as my own.” His gaze softened, and he cupped Wing’s face again. “I’ve always thought of you as my son, Wing. Always. Nothing is going to change that. That’s who you are to me.”

Stars, even Chekilli was being insistent about this. But that . . . that wasn’t what he was. That wasn’t at all what he was. How could he . . . How could he place him on such a high level? “WH . . . WHY? HOW? I DON’T . . . I DON’T DESERVE THAT TITLE, CHEKILLI. THAT’S NOT WHAT I AM. I’M JUST YOUR MONSTER.”

“Deserve- You absolutely deserve it, Wing! This isn’t- This isn’t something based on merit. There isn’t a way to not deserve it. It’s just what you are. It’s what you’ve always been to me.” He pulled him back into a hug. “I love you, Wing, and I absolutely consider you my son. Please, Wing. Please.”

Gaster wasn’t expecting the hug. Nor . . . nor everything that Chekilli had just told him. He was . . . he was absolutely being serious about this, wasn’t he? He had no idea what to do with that, incredulous as to the very idea of it. What was he supposed to . . . His son? He . . . He really thought of him that highly? That was . . . That was a lot, and he started to cry again, clinging to Chekilli as he did. How could he just . . . be so kind like this? He didn’t deserve it. He didn’t. But . . . he couldn’t deny how good it made him feel, to be considered as such. Even if it was hardly believable.

Eventually, Chekilli pulled away. “We’re getting rid of this whole creator-created thing, alright? Don’t call me your creator anymore. I’m your dad, now, or any variation of that that you might want to call me. Alright?”

Gaster hesitated, but then . . . slowly nodded. It felt . . . extremely weird, and not-right, but he couldn’t figure out a way to really deny it and get him to not do this. So he just . . . had to accept it.

Thank the stars. Chekilli slid his hands down to take Wing’s, squeezing them gently as he spoke. “Good. Good. I love you Wing. You know that?”

He nodded again, speaking quietly. “. . . I know. I love you, too.”

[voidscattered]

"THAT IS TRUE . . . ALRIGHT, I SUPPOSE THAT COULD WORK." And maybe he could take more time than he normally might otherwise, walk slower, show Steven around a bit more than he's seen so far. Still just in the city, of course, he'd save the full tour of the Underground for later when everyone else was available, but just . . . enough to give the others a little bit more time to catch up.

He paused when Steven mentioned an uncorrupted bubbled gem and described her. ". . . DO YOU MEAN BISMUTH? DIDN'T SHE TRY TO KILL YOU? I UNDERSTAND YOUR REASONING, BUT ARE YOU SURE THAT'D BE SAFE?"

He laughed slightly. "I FEEL LIKE WITH OUR SIZE DIFFERENCE, YOU CARRYING ME WOULD BE A BIT AWKWARD." Steven would be more than capable of it, with his strength and his own light weight, but it'd still be awkward to figure out a good position to be carried in. . . . Unless he just dragged him up.

"I WAS THINKING TELEPORTATION, YES," he said, offering his hand to him.

voidscattered‌:

“… I hope so, too.” It was terrible, what the corrupted gems were going through. And they’d been going through it for thousands of years. Stars, even if they’re able to restore them, they were likely going to have quite a lot of trauma from it … But that would still be immensely better than the state they were in now.

Gaster gave him a soft smile and ruffled his hair once. “Let’s go, then.” Just that reaction was enough to show that it’d been a good idea to have him help. “You can help bring the bubbles down to put them inside, too.” He could easily use telekinesis to get them, but he was more than willing to let Steven float up there to get them instead.

He paused, looking back up at the house. “Though unless there’s another entrance to the temple, we’d still have to disturb everyone to bring them in …”

                “There isn’t, no.” Steven shakes his head. “At least not that I know of. But like, by the time we get back, they’ll have had a bit to talk, right? It’s not like we’re bursting right back in.”

Hopefully it’ll be enough time to get Blue and Dio caught up at least a little bit. He can only imagine that it will take a while to really adjust. 

Bismuth… didn’t really have the time to adjust. Maybe if she’d had more time… And Ruby and Sapphire should have one of their best and oldest friends at their wedding.

                “Hey Dr. Gaster, there’s a gem in a bubble who isn’t corrupted. I wanna try talking to her again, to see if it’ll go better this time, cause she was an old friend of Garnet and Pearl’s, and I’m sure it would make Ruby and Sapphire like, really happy if she could come to their wedding… Could you just… not say anything if I took it with me when we go to put the corrupted gems in inventories?”

Steven looks up at the hand of the temple where the washer and dryer are, then back at Dr. Gaster, smiling slightly.

                “So are you going to like, teleport us up there to the pad, or do you want me to carry you up, cause I can jump up that high with my floating powers?”

[voidscattered]

@likestxrlight​

. . . The barrier had been broken. Finally. Finally. Gaster would be lying if he said he hadn’t gotten . . . quite emotional about it. Finally, after centuries of being stuck underground, he could see the sky, the fields, the forests, the sun. He could feel the wind, and the natural magic in the air, not artificially converted from a magma chamber. He could breathe. He could see the STARS. And so soon after he’d escaped the void, too!

He’d spent a long time just standing there, enjoying, well . . . everything about not being trapped in the suffocating darkness. And the sun had already been setting when they started down the mountain, so Gaster had slept under the stars that night. It was incredible.

They took the entire next day to explore the area. Some monsters went straight for the city in the distance. Others preferred to hang back, anxious considering the tales of humans past. Still others refused to leave the Underground in the first place. Gaster himself decided to take a roundabout way to the city, wanting to explore the forest a bit on his own before meeting the humans, which resulted in a couple days worth of travel. The whole time, he was filled with a deep, deep nostalgia. Childhood memories, family games, even just sitting by the fire. It tugged at his soul. He would never get moments like those again . . . but at least he once again had the Surface.

It was while he was still exploring that he stumbled upon it. A strange, perfectly cut . . . thing out in the forest. It looked like . . . a stage, or a stand, made entirely out of crystal. It was entirely out of place in the greenery around him, and he could never remember seeing anything like it before. He circled around it in fascination, stood on it in curiosity, attempted lifting it to no avail. What a curious thing.

He stood back to look at it again, lost in thought as to what it could possibly be. Perhaps he should cast a magic scan? At the very least it could tell him whether it was actually magical or if it was just . . . something that existed on its own. Before he could even attempt, though, a flash of light suddenly came down from the sky, striking the crystal and startling him backwards in surprise, fascination, and the slightest bit of fear.

[voidscattered]

@likestxrlight​

It had been . . . a crazy past few weeks since Steven somehow managed to get to the Diamonds. A lot had happened, and there was a lot of work for everyone to go around. But . . . at least they didn’t have to worry about intergalactic war anymore, and thank the stars the corrupted gems were healed.

And in addition to all of this, there was something that had been bothering him over the past few days. A feeling that felt incredibly familiar and yet . . . just out of reach when it came to identifying what it was. It was annoying, and he found his thoughts drifting back to it once again as he and Pearl sat outside, hand-in-hand, watching the sunrise paint their surroundings in pinks and oranges.

It had something to do with her. That he’d been able to pin down. But he had no idea what. It was a good feeling; he knew that, too. It was as if . . . they had gotten even closer over these past couple days somehow, better able to tell how the other was doing and enjoying the time spent side by side even more. Stars, even Moonstone felt different, though he couldn’t quite place how.

. . . It’d been a bit difficult, being this busy on entirely separate things, because it meant they weren’t able to fuse nearly as often as they wanted to. He wasn’t entirely sure on what the different terms were or if he’d be using it correctly, but honestly with how often it ended up happening, and taking into account the times they had to defuse only in order to allow him to eat and sleep, Moonstone seemed like they were nearly a perma-fusion themself, if not actually able to be considered one. So not being able to fuse as often was . . . difficult.

Stars, with how they acted with each other, he wouldn’t be surprised if from an outside perspective it seemed like they had a soul bond. It was a bit funny, how much they acted like that despite not having one.

Or . . . Or wait. Did they? Was that what he’d been feeling this whole time?

His mind raced as it went over everything that had happened in the past few days, every time he and Pearl had been together, and even apart, comparing each and every moment to what it had been like with Chekilli before the war, and . . . it matched. Oh, stars, it matched.

He leaned his mouth into his free hand, trying to not let his inner turmoil show, but his hand tightened around Pearl’s regardless and, well, if they did have a soul bond then she’d have the vague feeling that he wasn’t currently doing well anyway.

Stars, this . . . this should be a good thing. He should be happy about this. But the only thing that was coming to mind was just . . . the excruciation of when the one with Chekilli had broken, and the fact that that could happen again now that he had one again. Oh, oh stars. He didn’t want it to break. He couldn’t go through that again, he couldn’t. Why him? Why did this happen to him? It’d already been proven that he couldn’t be trusted with a soul bond- No, no, it wasn’t . . . it wasn’t his fault that the first one broke, no matter how much it felt like that. But it did feel like it and he just . . . Oh . . . Oh stars . . .

[voidscattered]

slides at @likestxrlight​

The discovery of the sudden appearance of a building on the moon that definitely hadn't been there before was a shock to the entire world. Not only that, but it seemed incredibly well built and definitely from an advanced civilization. The biggest mystery was how they had missed it getting built in the first place. It wasn't a small building to be sure.

There was a lot of speculation once it had been discovered. Some conspiracy theorists claimed it to be something secretly built by one of the major countries. Others claimed it to be evidence of intelligent extraterrestrial life, and still others claimed it to be something from the magical monsters that had only just recently been discovered - or rediscovered, according to them? - some time ago in the United States.

All the speculation was set straight extremely soon afterwards, when someone from the civilization that had built it came directly up to the Administrator of NASA. Apparently, a small group of aliens had actually been here on Earth for a while, but were waiting to make first contact until humans reached Mars. But then the building on the moon had lost its cloaking, which made them decide to make first contact now instead. They were an inorganic species called Gems, with bodies made of hard light, which . . . honestly flipped the worldviews of biologists and physicists alike, as well as the public in general. No one had known anything like that could be possible. Then again, magical monsters were, so why not?

Regardless, it was incredible, and all that the news was filled with nowadays. Chekilli was filled with awe at it all, and he considered himself lucky to be friends with Dr. Nikki Priscell, who worked at NASA and had been in direct contact with the gem, named Pearl, who had been working with them. As such he was able to get an inside scoop about it all.

One time had particularly caught his attention.

"Hey," Nikki said, poking at their food when they had teleported back from work for their lunch break. "Didn't you say one of your monsters had been a skeleton named Wingdings?"

". . . Yes," he replied hesitantly, uncertain as to where this topic was going. "Why do you ask?"

"Oh, no reason in particular. It's just Pearl’s got a skeleton friend named Wingdings Gaster who came in with her to one of our meetings some time ago."

Chekilli froze. What? No. No, that couldn't be. It was incredibly rare for a skeleton monster to have a symbolic font, much less the same symbolic font as his own monster's, not to mention the same secondary font and way of combining the two. But it couldn't be Wing. It couldn't. He'd felt him die just as he had his other monsters. It couldn't be.

. . . But it had to be.

He'd heard sometime after the War, from other creators, that the death of a soul bonded monster felt a lot like when a soul bond broke. And he hadn't actually seen Wing turn to dust like he had Wisty and Shell.

. . . Could he dare to hope?

"What . . ." he said shakily. "Wh-what does her friend look like?"

"Uh. A skeleton.” They chuckled slightly. “Well, he’s got no nose hole for one thing, though he has some nasty-looking cracks on his face, one from each eye, and both hands have holes in them. Sound familiar at all?”

Chekilli covered his mouth, leaning into his hand quite a bit. “The lack-of-nose-hole does . . .” If . . . if this was Wing then what . . . what had happened to him, to have cracks in his skull and holes in his hands? Of course, he knew what happened: he’d gotten captured by the Monster Hunters. But . . .

“Where . . . Do you know where he lives?” he asked.

Nikki shook their head. “Sorry.” They paused, then smirked. “Buuuut you could come with me tomorrow and ask Pearl yourself. And who knows, maybe he’ll come with her this time, too.”

Chekilli immediately straightened. "Are- Are you serious? Absolutely!" He could ask her directly about this Wingdings, perhaps even meet him then and there, and geez did he hope that this really was his Wingdings.

Also, this came with the added bonus of actually meeting the alien who had made first contact, which was incredible in and of itself.

“Why on Earth did you not tell me this earlier, Nikki?”

“Well . . . to be honest I only just now remembered you had a monster like that,” they replied with an embarrassed laugh. The name had been familiar, but they hadn’t been able to place it until now.

Chekilli groaned slightly, but left it as it was.

He could barely sleep that night, and the next morning left him extremely jittery. He followed Nikki to work, and it wasn't long before they encountered Pearl, though unfortunately it didn’t seem like this Wingdings was with her this time. Gosh, it was one thing to see her on the news; it was quite another to see her in person. Hard light, they'd said? It looked just as physical as anything organic. He wondered how similar it was to the solid magic that monsters were made of.

He didn't have much time to wonder before Nikki guided him over, waving towards Pearl to catch her attention.

"Pearl! I have someone I'd like you to meet. This is Dr. Chelokeeilitchee.”

"Ah, just Chekilli is fine, though. It's nice to meet you, Pearl." He offered a hand to shake. Ah, he was nervous, though. He really really hoped the monster she knew was his . . .

"He's actually interested in Dr. Gaster," Nikki added cheerfully, ignoring the nervous look Chekilli shot them.

[voidscattered]

". . . I HAVE TO ASSUME THAT IT DOESN'T WORK THE SAME WAY. IT'D PROBABLY BE MORE SIMILAR TO USING AN OVEN? AND THEN THERE ARE THINGS CALLED TOASTER OVENS . . ."

Did his universe not have toasters at all then? Not even something similar? He wanted to see for himself.

voidscattered

He … he really had never seen a toaster before? Even the Underground had had toasters, or at least a version of them, and they didn’t look too different from the Surface ones.

Granted, Dings was from an alternate universe. Maybe they didn’t in his world. Or it looked different and they called it something different.

“IT … TOASTS THINGS. THAT’S WHY IT’S CALLED A TOASTER. BREAD, BAGELS, WAFFLES, THINGS LIKE THAT. HEATS THEM UP AND MAKES THEM CRISPY.”

He really has not seen a toaster before. It does look a little weird compared to a normal toaster due to the whole partial disassembly thing, but all together it is recognizable as a toaster. 

[Oh! That makes sense] More poking of the toaster. [Why do you need a toaster to make bread crispy? Can’t you use a stove?]

[voidscattered]

@likestxrlight​

. . . A lot had happened since the war had come to them. A lot had happened. Honestly it was amazing he’d even survived for this long given everything that had gone on, especially earlier on, but also . . . most recently. He never thought he’d be able to escape the void. And yet he did. And . . . the barrier was broken. They were free.

A lot had happened then, too. Hugs, stories, packing, and then . . . finally leaving the cavern that had pressed in around them for centuries, intent on snuffing out all of their lives should the lifeline that the Core was fail.

But they didn’t have to worry about that anymore. They were free.

Gaster - and he was mainly Gaster now, instead of Wing, though he wasn’t entirely sure at what point that had happened - had been walking through the forest on his way to the nearest human city when he came across a slab of bright blue crystal embedded into the ground some ways away, and he froze.

That . . . that was a warp pad. That was the warp pad that had been some ways away from his home. He knew the village would be destroyed so he didn’t even consider going there, or he would have gone there first rather than the human city, but . . . If the gems had stayed in one place for millennia, then . . . it was likely they didn’t move even after a few more centuries, right?

He ran over to it. Stars, he- he hoped they were still there. He hoped there was someone still left from before the war, he hoped he could see Pearl again. He hoped she’d been doing alright, without him there to make sure she didn’t fall into the same situation she’d been in with Rose initially.

Stars, he’d probably look like a right mess to her now, wouldn’t he, after all the scars and cracks he’d gotten . . . Even his soul was extensively cracked now . . .

He took a breath, then used the spell they’d come up with way back when to activate the warp pad and return to the temple, for the first time in hundreds of years.

[voidscattered]

@likestxrlight

Despite how quickly it was put together, the wedding had turned out amazing. It had honestly been an extremely good day, all things considered. Aside from just the excitement of the wedding itself, Steven and Connie had finally made up, Gaster himself had been able to meet Garnet under much more ideal circumstances, and it had been a well-needed break from just . . . everything that was going on.

Including the anxiety of having his first therapy appointment in a few days from now.

Another thing was that the day of the wedding was the first time he’d seen Steven come up with a song on the spot, and really the first time he’d seen it happen at all without warning. It was fascinating, honestly, because it wasn’t just Steven. By the end of it he’d gotten all the gems to join in, and even his dad.

The funny thing was that he’d almost gotten him to join, too. He’d chosen not to, wanting to just watch it all instead, but he’d certainly felt the urge to. And . . . he wasn’t entirely sure that urge was his own. It was curious, and something he at least wanted to think about more the next time it happened. Was there a magical effect to it? Steven did have empathetic powers, after all, and it was possible he’d accidentally been using them . . .

Or he could just be seeing something that really wasn’t there. Maybe it really was just the natural musical talent of gems and learned talent of Greg that made everyone joined in perfectly at the exact same time despite it being a spontaneous song, and maybe it was a coincidence that he’d also felt like joining at that moment, too. Somehow. He wanted to be sure before bringing it up with anyone else, regardless, and for that he’d have to see it happen a couple more times.

This is what he was thinking about when Pearl came to join him the day after, and he smiled up at her as she did. “Well hello there.”

[voidscattered]

@likestxrlight​ to continue from where we last left off

The day after the Diamonds had left, Gaster went around asking the others what had happened, and honestly, getting the details of everything to do with White Diamond from everyone was much more difficult than he’d been expecting. Frustratingly so. It seemed like no one wanted to talk about it, or at least couldn’t . . . remember? And all of that . . . was rather concerning in its own right. Steven especially seemed to need to talk about it too given how much he didn’t want to, even as much so as Pearl.

He finally hit success with it with Connie, and what she’d told him . . . Stars. He definitely needed to talk to Pearl and Steven about these things. It’d been difficult to choose who he should talk to first, but he eventually decided with Pearl, since he’d already brought it up with her.

So, that evening, after she’d had the whole night and most of the day to relax and wind down a little, he sat down next to her when the others were off doing their own things. “. . . CONNIE TOLD ME WHAT HAPPENED UP THERE.”

[voidscattered]

Gaster hesitated. "I . . . I don't know . . . I . . . I'm not sure I can promise . . . But I can try, at least." He gave them an uncertain smile. "Besides, if I'm working with the Doctor on this, then they probably won't let me risk myself anyway."

voidscattered

Well … He wasn’t entirely sure how much he could promise not risking himself, but …

“… I’LL TRY.”

They stared at Gaster, unblinking, for a few long seconds.

“If it risks you, don’t do it.”

“Promise?”

[voidscattered]

Happy pride!!! Have a happy pride Moonstone!

[voidscattered]

@likestxrlight​

Gaster was concerned.

Things were actually going quite well since Steven and the gems somehow managed to convince the Diamonds of their wrongdoing and got them to stop conquering. There were no more worries of intergalactic threats. And . . . in general, he’d been doing better himself. Pearl really had been getting to him in forcing him to take better care of himself, and therapy was being an immense help as well. And he could see how much Pearl had improved, too. It was really a breath of fresh air.

But he was worried. Because he was starting see some very bad and very familiar habits popping up in Steven. Namely that he was ignoring his own problems in favor of helping others. He was prioritizing everyone else over himself, and that hit extremely close to home. And it was terrifying that Steven might be going through something similar to what he had. He knew just how bad that could get. Just how damaging it could be. And he didn’t want him anywhere near that thought process.

So he had to stop it before it could get as bad as it did for him.

“HEY, STEVEN,” he said when he was next able to catch him. “MIND IF I PULL YOU AWAY LONG ENOUGH TO WATCH THE SUNSET?”

[voidscattered]

The sword const is getting pearl, along with its scabbard, cuz I absolutely had to draw them.

(Grubberfly’s Elegy is a charm from the game Hollow Knight that basically creates a ranged attack as you swing your sword, in the shape of that swipe. I just didn’t know how else to describe it in a succinct way)

[voidscattered]

"WELL THAT'S GOOD AT LEAST. AS FOR THE COOKING, I'D SAY YOU HAVE, YEAH." Gaster smiled, then paused for a bit. ". . . SORRY, I'M NOT THE BEST AT SMALL TALK."

voidscattered‌:

“BEEN BETTER, ACTUALLY. I GUESS I’VE STARTED TO ADJUST. HOW HAVE YOU BEEN?” Though he was still hoping on finding his way back to his own universe.

He took one of the pastries out and bit into it. “… THESE ARE REALLY GOOD, BY THE WAY.”

She gave a quiet hum. “Well enough, I suppose. It’s more just been life as usual, but nothing particularly bad has happened lately, so there’s at least that.”  She gave a small laugh at his complement. “Oh. Well. I’m glad you think so. I’ve had at least a few years of practice, so I’d like to think I’ve gotten the knack down.”

[voidscattered]

“Well, Wingdings”

I feel like this was a pretty important moment for Const, so here, have some somewhat symbolic, somewhat literal art

(Of course, from the thread with @likestxrlight‘s pearl)

[voidscattered]

You know I’m super interested in a thread when I start drawing fanart for it

Technically considering Moonstone’s concept art I started drawing fanart for it before it even started