**Goldie, Garnet, Onyx LG!Alphys and LustGold belong to S-E-Sagas**
Chapter 24 – ReunionGoldie wasn't quite looking forward to coming back home tonight. He had managed to put it out of his mind while working, but what happened that morning still bothered him. He pushed Jewel into wearing something she clearly didn't want to and he felt down right low about it. Seeing her that upset, despite not really knowing her... well, there was enough misery in the world, he didn't need to be making more. Especially not over a stupid outfit.
When he and Garnet got back home, he was surprised to see a guard just… sitting there. He seemed rather comfortable. It kind of irked him. He understood why he was there, Jewel did just pop out of nowhere and they were rather valuable to the Underground as a whole, but he wasn't even doing… anything! He wasn't even the same room as Jewel!
And where was she, anyway? It wasn't until he got further in the room did he smell it. She was cooking? Why was she cooking?
Garnet was the first to stride into the kitchen, Goldie following behind him. They saw Jewel standing at the stove, wearing a different shirt than they left her in, mixing something in a pot. It smelled good, he wasn't going to lie. But Garnet loved to cook, so he was worried about how he would take this.
"Oh, hey guys," she said as she turned, having noticed their presence before they made themselves vocally known.
"Jewel," Garnet started, "What are you doing?"
"Oh, um… sorry if you had something planned. I just… well, I needed a distraction and I wanted to apologize and thank you guys for putting me up and everything… I can't really do much else at the moment…"
Garnet let out a sigh. "I understand that, but you should be resting," he protested just slightly, going over to the stove to see what she was working on.
She was mixing gravy on the stove, the oven loaded with something that looked equivalent to a roast with a variety of vegetables lined around it.
"Yeah… I don't really sleep well in places I don't know, let alone with someone watching me," she admitted softly.
"Well, at least you got a lazy guard," Goldie tried to joke.
"Dude hovers when he's not sitting. Kept breathing down my neck while I was sketching, but the fact I'm cooking for you doesn't even register to him? Kinda sucks at his job, doesn't he?" she said quietly.
Goldie couldn't help but chuckle. "At least you're feeling better."
"Still not completely comfortable in these clothes," she admitted, "But it's better… sorry about freaking out on you before. None of this is your fault."
"Well, I did push you to wear something you weren't comfortable with. I do apologize for that," Goldie said as he rubbed the back of his neck. "But… I still stand by what I said, you know. You're not ugly."
The expression on Jewel's face told him that she didn't believe him. He could have argued if she said something, but she didn't. He could have tried to prove her wrong if she gave him something…
"Is this because of your scars?" Garnet then asked.
Goldie tensed just a little, but when he saw Jewel wasn't really reacting, he took a breath. The last thing he wanted was a repeat of this morning.
"It's… not just the scars… it's the memories attached to them… the pain, the regret… but… yeah, heh, they don't look nice either. I don't mind the blade ones so much… I was a stupid kid, I can live with those but…" Jewel leaned heavily on the counter, her head against the cabinet as she did. "I know you're both dying to ask, and are only holding back because of how I reacted this morning. Scars you don't understand or recognize… others you do…"
"I… understand," Garnet said softly. "I have a scar on my right scapula… I… don't like showing it, and I hide it… even when…"
"Heh, especially when, right?" Jewel chuckled softly, just emotionally exhausted.
Garnet went over and gently put a hand on her shoulder. "You don't have to show us anything. You don't have to tell us anything. But, the Goldie's right. The scars themselves don't make you ugly. You're right, they tell a story, and that's your story to tell. If you're not comfortable telling it, you're not required to, to anyone." He then smiled at her. "But that doesn't mean you can't find something nice either! That's all Goldie wanted before! You wear bulky clothes that hide your figure. You can still cover up and look amazing without showing your scars! Look at me," he grinned, stepping back and almost posing. "I don't really show off my bones like Goldie does, but I'm still sexy," he grinned.
Jewel blinked, not having really expected that kind of talk from a Papyrus. She couldn't help but chuckle a little, unable to stop a smile from gracing her features.
"Well, don't be offended if I don't openly agree. I don't really do "sexy" and all that. I'm not attracted to people in a "normal" way."
Goldie rose a brow. "Huh? What do you mean "normal" way? Either you are or you aren't."
"It's easier for monsters, I think. You guys just… know. Humans have this whole… categorization system. I mean, females can sire a child. In this world it's not quite the same, but…" she sighed a little, taking the gravy off the heat and turning to face them. "Humans are male or female when we're born. But there's just… so much, trying to explain it just makes my head want to explode. There's straight relationships, gay relationships, poly relationships, transgender, asexuality…"
"Wait, slow down," Goldie put his hands up, a brow raised. "What… the hell?"
Jewel chuckled a little. "There's a wide variety of sexual and romantic orientations for humans. It's not… it's so confusing, humans have to label everything. Monsters can follow the same type but you don't dwell on it, which is refreshing, honestly. You have straight, or heterosexual, that's the classic male and female relationship. Then you have homosexual, which is either two men in a relationship or two women, gay and lesbian respectively as further clarification. Then there are people who are born one gender, but don't feel like they belong in that gender so they identify as the opposite. Then there are the people who don't identify as either gender and prefer they-them pronouns…"
Goldie and Garnet just stared at her for a moment, before looking to each other then back to her.
"Why the hell are all the labels necessary? You love who you love, that's just complicated!" Goldie rolled his eyes.
"Hey, don't look at me, I didn't make it," she chuckled. "Just how our society is. There's a lot of hate for it too…" She rubbed her neck a little. "People will attack others based on what they are, who they love… all kinds of shit. I'm… glad I got out when I did."
The two looked at her, seeing the relieved look on her face. It didn't sound like a nice place, where she was before. Neither of them could be certain if all human cities, cultures, were like hers, but they were glad she escaped, for her sake.
"So… what are you then, if you're not "normal"?" Garnet asked.
"Huh? Oh!" she chuckled. "I'm Demi."
"Demi?" Goldie questioned.
"Demisexual and Demiromantic. I'm not… well, there's not really a "type" for me. Ya know how some people like someone tall or short, or prefer a certain color of eyes, that kind of thing? That… doesn't apply to me. I'm not attracted to anyone unless I have a strong emotional connection to them. So it… doesn't matter to me what race, gender… though I do tend to sway toward hetero-romantic most of the time, I won't just… jump in. I don't start feeling anything unless there's a reason for me to connect to them, ya know?"
Goldie looked over and chuckled. "And that right there is how most monsters are," he grinned. "But you really don't feel physically attracted to someone? Nothing grabs you as sexy?"
"Not really. Well, maybe eyes," she chuckled. "Mine change color depending on situations, and some you can just get lost in."
Goldie chuckled. "Well, I'm off the market," he teased.
"Goldie!" Garnet scolded.
Jewel chuckled. "Don't worry. We barely know each other and I don't do one-night stands, sorry," she winked at him. "Not gonna get to know what it's like to sleep with a human any time soon."
Goldie smiled. She was feeling better. That was nice. He didn't like seeing her so upset. Her smile reached her eyes finally. He sort of understood where that could be attractive, many complimented his after all.
"So," Goldie started. "I have tomorrow off. How about I take you to pick out some clothes that you actually like?"
"Only if you let me pay."
"A human actually has Gold?" he rose a brow.
"Yeah, I do. I don't have much on my person but I do have plenty stored away."
"And how do you plan to get to it? You can't teleport."
"Well… I can teleport things other than me, ya know. Including my wallet."
Goldie sighed. "You shouldn't be using your magic with your soul damaged."
"It doesn't take much."
"If you can't do it, you can just pay me back, okay?" He really didn't care, but if it made her feel better.
She pouted a little but sighed, smiling. "Fine."
Dinner was amazing, the guard even joining in. He would have to report everything in, and another guard would be standing outside during the night, but he was certain there was no threat. Despite her soul being hidden, she seemed genuine and shared enough to make everyone trust her. Even if it had been such a short time. He found it strange, however…
Despite her protests, Goldie did take her shopping without her paying. She was adamant about paying him back but he kind of just brushed it off. She did wind up getting a temporary room to stay so she wasn't bothering the boys, but with her working on her gift for her friend, Garnet let her come in while they were gone, and even when they were around. She was nice to talk to. She also found out Goldie's little stash of comics and started going nerd-talk with him. Garnet was thrilled, he had a distraction on hard days. His eyes always lit up when talking comic books and Batman seemed to be a favorite between them both.
The time would come, however, where she would be healed enough to try and go home. She didn't want to leave her friends worrying about her. She left Alphys her old, broken phone for her to mess with. She had asked many questions about it, though she did take the sim-card and memory drive out. Some important stuff was in there for her and she wasn't willing to let it go.
"You'll come back and visit, right?" Garnet asked.
"Of course!" Jewel grinned. "Can't leave my buds hanging. Besides, I still need to pay Goldie back for everything."
"No, you don't," he laughed.
She stuck her tongue out at him, causing everyone to chuckle. "Besides, I need to give you my number when I get back so we can keep in touch no matter where I am."
"Could I… ask questions about humanity?" Alphys asked as she pressed her fingers together nervously.
"Well, sure. Don't expect me to know everything, but I'll answer what I can."
Hugs were exchanged, with Goldie being last. Jewel leaned in and hugged him a little tighter. "And you take it easy, okay?"
"Heh, it's me. Since when do I do anything seriously?"
"Good question," Garnet retorted.
Jewel chuckled a little, but gave him a knowing look.
"Alright, alright," he smiled at her. "If it'll make you feel better."
"And I know you won't listen anyway," she sighed with a smile. "I'll just have to check on you more frequently."
Goldie chuckled. "Won't complain about that. But you should get going. It's been four days, your friends are probably losing their mind."
"Yeah," she sweated a little.
"Good luck!" Alphys called out.
"See ya, punk! Don't leave us hangin' too long!" Onyx grinned.
"I'll make sure to have some food ready for you when you come!" Garnet smiled.
Jewel pulled back a bit from the group, looking them over. She never thought she'd want to be in a lust variant, but… Well, LustGold was pretty amazing with amazing people. She would definitely be back.
"Later guys!" she winked with a flash of a peace sign before teleporting off.
Jewel went into the anti-void first. Error was her best bet, she shouldn't be running around like this. Her soul still wasn't fully healed and that hurt worse than she wanted to admit. But at least it didn't crack back open… She panted a little and looked around… he wasn't there?
"Weird… Error?" she called, just in case he was checking for her. "Great, he's going to kill me for this," she muttered. "I suppose it shouldn't surprise me he'd go looking when I didn't come back, but… where would he be?" she thought aloud.
Well, she had one other hub to check, then she'd just go to Blueberry. After all, they all met up in the Doodlesphere to take care of her before… She went there to look for Error… maybe they had the same plan? Jewel had to take a couple of minutes to steady herself before she tried to teleport again. She steeled herself and made it into the Doodlesphere, a bit breathless, but she made it. No one was around… but this place was a lot bigger than the anti-void.
"How many worlds have we checked?" she heard Classic Sans ask, his voice tired, more than normal.
"Too damn many," Red muttered.
"Can't we go check another one?" Blueberry asked.
"It won't do us any good to looking through random AUs," Dream spoke up.
"We'd just waste magic," Ink agreed.
Blueberry was a mess. So were the rest of them, really. They hadn't even gotten to see her healed, okay… only Blueberry and Error did, and to have her disappear for four more days due to Nightmare… None of them were sleeping well. Even Dream was worried because he knew what his brother was capable of… The only good thing would be that he wouldn't kill her. He couldn't feed off of her if she was dead… but that didn't help matters any.
Slowly, Jewel walked over. She didn't know what to say. Seeing them so worried over her…
Blueberry heard it first. The soft crunching of grass. He turned and saw her just… walking toward them. He was frozen in place, blue eyes unmoving as he stared at her. Then it was Sans, noticing Blueberry was spacing out. In a second, he abandoned the portals.
"Jewel!" he didn't even run over, he teleported, hands on her arms, looking up at her as tears lined his eye sockets. "Thank the stars! Are you alright? What happened?"
He wasn't alone. The second he called out her name, the others were with him. Ink, Dream, Red, they all teleported over. Blueberry was still frozen in place, and one was still missing.
"I'm… I'm okay," she said softly as she looked over at the four in front of her. "What about you guys, you look exhausted," she said, gently wiping the tear from Sans' eye.
"We can sleep when we know what happened to ya!" Red barked. He was trying to not show how relieved he was, his hand was shaking in his pocket.
Jewel looked down at them, realizing what she had feared came to pass. She really scared them… Tears started to line her eyes before she leaned down, grabbing Red and Sans before pulling them tight in a hug.
"I'm sorry. I tried to get back as soon as I could."
It didn't take either of them a second more to react. Sans and Red both wrapped their arm around her tightly. Ink went over and put a hand on her back and Jewel leaned in, resting her forehead on Ink's. It was all she could do for the moment, before the other two pulled back and she gave Ink a proper hug.
"Heh, sorry Ink," she said after a minute. "Nightmare kind of killed the outfit you made for me."
Ink couldn't help but laugh a little, a small snort escaping. "Really, that's what you're worried about? I can make you another one, no sweat."
Jewel smiled but slowly pulled back, looking to Dream. "Got pulled in again to try and save my butt?"
"You were attacked by my brother. It's kind of my business now," Dream tried to reassure.
"Heh… we're gonna have to have a talk eventually," she smiled at him. But she noticed. "Where's Error?"
"He couldn't sit still, he went to some AUs to look for you," Ink explained. "He'll be back soon, probably."
She nodded a little, but then saw Blueberry was still standing there, frozen. "Blue?" she called out.
He didn't move. Everyone turned to look and see the tiny skeleton still just rooted to his spot. It was so strange, he was the one who got them all together, he was the one who worried the most when she was gone. Now he wasn't moving?
"Blue?" Jewel asked softly as she got closer. His eyes were black now, which was really odd for the little skeleton.
He still didn't move, even as Jewel stood in front of him. She gently caressed his cheek and he slowly looked up at her, his eyes still blacked out.
"Blue, what's-?"
She didn't even get the question out before he suddenly wrapped his arms around her waist, gripping her with all his strength. He openly sobbed into her shirt. She was surprised with the sudden action but that didn't stop her from grabbing hold of the tiny skeleton, holding him close to her.
"Blue?"
"I… I thought…" he sobbed into her before looking up at her with his big blue eyes filled with tears. "I thought that you…" he gripped her tighter.
Slowly, Jewel was realizing what he meant. She slowly got down to her knees, getting low enough for Blueberry to not strain his neck looking at her. She pulled him close, hugging him properly now. "Blue, that's now how that works," she said with a small smile. He was too damn pure for this world. "I promise, it's okay."
"Don't do anything like that again!" he then scolded through his sobs, pulling back to look at her, but his fists held her new jacket tightly.
"There's no promises there, Blue," she said with a soft sigh, reaching up and gently wiped his tears. "I don't like using that magic if I can help it, but I'll be damned if I'm going to let anything happen to my friends."
"Heh, you're starting to sound like us now," Ink grinned a little as everyone walked over.
"But what do you mean that magic? Did you finally have to whip out the offensive?" Sans asked.
"Yeah, I did," she sighed and stood up. "It's not a pretty sight, I'll be the first to admit it." She looked back down at Blueberry. "You know I didn't mean to scare you, right? I was doing what I had to."
"I… I know," Blueberry sighed as he leaned into her side, still holding onto her, not ready to let her go. "You just… looked like them, it…"
"What, looked like them?" Red questioned.
"There's a lot to go over," Jewel sighed a bit. "And as much as I hate story time…"
"Does that mean you're going to tell us everything?" Sans asked.
"Oh, heck no," Jewel chuckled, before rubbing the back of her head. "But I do owe you guys some explanation. I'll try and be as open as I can but there's… just a lot, Sans."
"Define a lot," he countered.
"A few hundred years worth of drama."
Ink, Dream, Sans and Red all just stared in disbelief, their expressions differing just a bit based on their personalities. Ink was utterly stunned, Dream was surprised, but knew the feeling so it quickly subsided. Sans gave a blank stare, as did Red, but Red's mouth hung open.
"Yeah… Again, I have a lot to explain."
"So… maybe we should get started?" Sans tried.
"I think we should wait for everyone to be here. I hate talking about it, I rather only do it once. Then everyone's on the same page. But…" She glanced over at Dream. "We still need to talk before any of this."
"Why?" Ink asked. "He's saved you and he's a friend."
"I don't doubt he'd be my friend. But we haven't really talked. And, before I let him know personal details…"
"I understand," Dream smiled softly. "I know, I'm not as close as the others."
"You got close to Blueberry pretty quickly," Sans pointed out. "Wasn't that day the first time you hung out with him?"
"Dude, you latched on after meeting me once. You have no right to judge."
"Fair," Sans sweated.
"I think we all kind of latched onto Jewel pretty quick," Ink chuckled. "Even Error, in his way."
"It happens when there's something relatable at the core. And, really… you guys are all different versions of the same dude, the core doesn't change too much."
"Fair," Red chuckled a little.
"So, do you want to start while we wait for Error to return?" Dream offered.
"Well, they all got one-on-one time," she glanced back at the others. "If you want to sit down and talk, I don't mind."
"You're not going to leave, right?" Blueberry asked.
"Nah. Even if I wanted to, I don't think I could."
"Why?" Red asked quickly. "Ya alright, sweetheart?"
"Not fully recovered. My soul's still pretty badly hurt from Dust's attack. I only really waited the bare minimum to be able to teleport back. I went back to the anti-void looking for Error, I thought he'd be my best bet to help me get through to find the rest of you. So I pushed myself a little bit coming here after that."
"How bad? We can take a look," Sans offered quickly. "That's the one thing we can help with."
"Provided you can see my soul," Jewel reminded.
"Well, it's still there, I doubt it's moved."
"Let's just… wait on that," Jewel said softly. If it happened the way she thought, she wanted Error there. "If you find it, it'll probably bring up more questions anyway," she muttered a little.
"Like why it's inaccessible?" Sans rose a brow.
"Heh, something like that."
"Jewel… can't you just let us help?"
"Well… how about Dream tries while we talk? Alone."
The group looked at each other and nodded. So long as she got help. It was a step in the right direction, normally she wouldn't have allowed it.
"Let me know when Error gets back," Jewel said before she and Dream started walking off to a private corner.
Blueberry continued to stand beside Sans, Ink and Red, looking a little dejected.
"Hey, Blue, what's eating you?" Ink asked.
"I just…"
"Her offensive magic really shook you," Sans surmised.
Blueberry nodded a little. "It… I don't even know how to describe it… It was like… she was a different person."