Reaper clenched his hands so tightly if he had flesh he was sure he'd be bleeding. "you're sure you're ready?"
"Yes, my friend. I assure you I am well prepared for this. Your friends are in good hands," Life replied as she smiled gently down on Reaper. "You know there is no place in all of creation safer and more suited to our purpose than my garden."
Reaper drew in a deep breath, then let it out slowly. "yeah, i know. you're right. heh, you're always right." Reaper grinned nervously up at his oldest friend, "alright, i'm going now."
"I will not move even an inch," Life promised with another soft, reassuring smile.
Reaper nodded, then stepped into the Save Screen. Into their living room, specifically, where Geno and Cider both stood with their bodies pressed against each other, hands tangled together, skulls angled down to hide whatever they were discussing too quietly for Reaper to hear. "life's ready."
Both glitches looked up, but it was Cider that stepped forward. "alright, i'm ready."
Reaper looked back and forth between them, "cider?" He would think Geno would want to go first, he was the one who'd been stuck here longer.
"we talked about it," Cider started.
"and ended up flipping a coin," Geno cut in.
A lie. Reaper could tell by the way Geno stared at him as if he could glare Reaper into believing it. Reaper furrowed his brow and was about to ask what Geno was lying about, but instead shook his head. Life was waiting, this was a delicate enough procedure without unnecessary delays. He reached for Cider, then pulled his hand back. Most gods were able to move quickly, flitting wherever they were needed faster than mortal eye could hope to ever follow, but it still required the god to be touching whatever or whoever they wanted to bring with them. If he were touching Cider when they left this place, he'd likely dust before Life even had a chance to lift a finger. "here, stand beside me." Reaper wasn't most gods, he had something else entirely at his disposal: shortcuts. Those didn't require touch.
Cider moved into the spot Reaper had pointed at, "alright, i'm ready."
Reaper nodded, then between one step and the next they were in Life's garden. Cider barely had time to gasp before he was in Life's arms, surrounded by the warm glow of healing magic.
Life was a powerful healer, Reaper reminded himself as a small eternity slowly ticked by. Probably the most powerful healer ever, he added on as time slowly dragged on and yet nothing seemed to change. Then Life's intense grimace of concentration eased into a pleased smile and the gaping hole in Cider's skull (no longer hidden by glitches) slowly grew smaller and smaller. Reaper breathed a sigh of relief as the hole closed up and the healing glow faded.
Life stood leaning over Cider, one hand at his back while the other was held open in front of him, both of Cider's tiny hands clinging to her like a (heh) lifeline. Cider was breathing heavily and blinking wildly. Then he looked up and Reaper finally got his first look at Cider's new face, the whole right side looked like wax that had melted and cooled again. The affect wasn't helped by his eye, which had healed drooping half closed, the bottom rim even lower than his good eye, leaving it looking as if his whole eye had slid down his face.
"Rest now, my child." Life picked up Cider as she spoke, then set him down on a fallen tree. "I am sure this is quite the change for you, but we have your other half to help next." Life's expression shifted to contemplative as she put a finger to her chin and tilted her head slightly, "Your other third?"
"heh, we've just been calling each other twins, it's easier to deal with."
"Very well then, we must do this once more for your twin. Sans," Life turned to Reaper, "I am ready."
"right." Reaper stepped back into the Save Screen. Geno was right where he'd left him, looking so small and anxious. He perked up when he noticed Reaper had arrived, then drooped. "is he…"
"cider's fine, it worked."
"that's… that's good." A tear welled up in Geno's eye as he let out a shuddering breath, "that's really good."
Reaper pulled Geno into a hug, tucking the smaller's face into the crook of his neck as he hugged him close. "it worked, he's alive and well and soon you will be too. you're going to be free, you'll get to see the surface and the whole of the multiverse and never, ever have to come back here ever again."
Geno sobbed and clung to Reaper all the tighter, Reaper started running a soothing hand up and down Geno's spine while murmuring quiet nonsense into his acoustic canal. It seemed the tears were just a quick burst, a flurry of sobs that started to ebb shortly after beginning. Reaper was about to ask Geno if he was ready to go when his phone played a cheery little tune. That was Life's ringtone. He quickly pulled his phone out of his inventory with one hand while he continued to pet Geno's spine with the other.
The LIFE of the party
*Is everything alright, my friend? You are taking quite a while to return with Geno.
*yeah sall good
sorry
geno got a lil emotional
*Oh dear, is he well?
*yeah hes better now
well be thr shorty
*I will be waiting.
With that he dropped his phone back into his inventory and gave Geno an extra little squeeze. "that was life, you ready to go meet her?"
"yeah, sure," Geno gave a watery laugh, "all set."
Reaper took a quick shortcut into the kitchen and grabbed up the first tea towel in reach, he held it up to Geno's face. Geno quickly wiped down his face and blew his nose. Then they were in the bedroom and Geno tossed the used towel towards the laundry basket.
"okay, all set for real this time."
Reaper gently pushed Geno away from him. Once they weren't touching anymore he turned to face the same direction as him. "alright, here we go."
Geno nodded, then between one step and the next they were in Life's garden. Reaper pulled up his hood and clung to it anxiously as he breathlessly watched Life work her magic. It seemed to take both far, far longer than it had with Cider and be over in an instant. The healing magic faded and Life was holding Geno up just as she had Cider as she smiled down at him. Geno turned to find Reaper and smiled wide. His right eye looked as if it were caught in an eternal, melted wink.
"reaper," Geno called happily and reached towards him.
Reaper shortcut a couple paces back, well out of reach.
Geno had just enough time to look hurt before Cider was hugging Geno. "look at all this! i've never seen so much greenery all in one place in my whole life."
"yeah," Geno agreed. He looked around the garden again, then up at the endless blue sky with a herd of white, fluffy clouds drifting lazily overhead. "i've never seen that shade of blue before."
Cider looked up, just as transfixed as Geno. "yeah, me neither."
Life picked them both up in a hug, "Congratulations to the both of you!"
Faint, rosy blushes lit both the glitches' cheek bones. No, not glitches anymore.
"thanks, life."
"And now what will the two of you do?"
"oh uh…" Geno and Cider turned to look at each other, then both stared in shock. "whoa, is that what i look like now?" Both reached tentatively for each others' faces.
"Not quite, you are no longer identical." Life smiled down at them as the two inspected each others' faces, then their own. "How do you feel? I hope neither of you is in any pain."
"no! uh, no, not at all."
"i feel better than i have in ages," Geno said with a grin. "but i also feel like i could sleep for a year."
"Ah, that is to be expected. Healing can be quite taxing on both the healer and the injured. The worse the injury, the more taxing the healing. You were both on the brink of Death," Life threw a wink Reaper's way, "it would be best if you rested for now. You are both quite welcome to rest here, I can make you a charming nest to sleep in." Life turned and held up her arms as if she were about to conduct an invisible orchestra lurking under the foliage around the edge of her garden.
Cider and Geno looked around the garden (full of bird song, animals rustling through the underbrush, and trees whispering overhead with every stray breeze) and shook their heads. "no offense, but it's really uh…"
"it's kinda noisier than we're used to."
"That is quite alright, I understand even something I would consider peaceful can be overwhelming after what you two have become used to. It would be better not to go back to that timeless place, but if it is where you would be most comfortable then that is where you shall go." She leaned down and pulled Geno and Cider into yet another hug. "Rest well, my new friends. And remember, you are welcome here any time." She stood and grinned mischievously at them, "Reaper has precious little free time, and he would rather spend it in your company than mine. I demand you two come keep me company in his place."
Reaper smiled sadly at Life's teasing. He had a feeling that now they were alive again, now that the timers every mortal had were slowly ticking away again, that he wouldn't be able to spend as much time with his darlings as he had before.
"Reaper, come here and help these two get back home." Life beckoned Reaper closer. He obligingly drifted into reach, but was careful to keep a small buffer of distance between them.
"what? can't get home on your own?"
"we're not sure if we can shortcut between worlds," Geno admitted.
"plus we got one last thing to test."
"huh?" Reaper looked at Cider in confusion, giving Cider just enough time to latch onto Reaper and pull him closer. Reaper was so surprised that all he could do was yelp in shock. Cider leaned up and closed his eye as their teeth met in a hard kiss that echoed sharply through the garden. Reaper panicked and pushed Cider away, "cider! what are… you're not dead." He looked down at the mortal monster with his robed clenched tightly in his fist, Reaper's hands on his shoulders in a vain attempt to put distance back between them. He wasn't dust.
"huh, i'm really not. guess dt's a hell of a drug." Cider grabbed Reaper and pulled him back into another, slightly gentler kiss.
Geno latched onto Reaper as well, jostling Cider until they were both held in Reaper's arms. Geno insisted on getting a kiss of his own, then Cider pulled him back into another kiss. By the time the pair had had enough of trading him off for kisses, Reaper was panting like he'd just run a marathon. He stared down at the both of them in wonder, then his gaze shifted over to blink slowly at Cider. Cider blushed and hid his face in a hand, then peeked back up at Reaper shyly.
"cider, are you… does this mean… are you really okay with this?"
Cider nodded, "if you are. i mean, i know you've been pretty obvious about wanting me too, but if that was all just a joke we don't have to…" Cider trailed off nervously.
Reaper whooped and picked the twins up to spin them around. He held both his darling little datefriends close and peppered their adorable melted skulls with kisses. "i'm more than okay with this!" Perhaps it was greedy of him to accept, to keep them both after they finally had the whole multiverse opened to them, but Reaper wasn't about to let either of his datefriends go now that he had them. He held them tighter again and nuzzled their skulls. Cider and Geno both pulled him down into a kiss, magic sparked where the three's teeth met, an intoxicating mix of red and blue that he was sure he'd never get tired of.
