A/R:
Hahahaha… I'm a terrible person. November 20th? That's bad, even for me. But I swore I'd finish this, so here. I wrote the story since last year and it's just going to be posted as is.
Enjoy, thank you.
Chapter Nine
Dimentio
Dimentio sat on his pedestal and watched in amusement as O'chunks caterwauled his apology to Nastasia.
"Raise yer chunks in the air, as the most debonair man o' men strides into the room! Springin' forth from 'is lair as 'is foes all despair, for Bleck be the name o' their doom!" Chunks stomped, "Whooa-OH! That's our Bleck! Blecky, Bleckity, DOOOO! Yeh, uh, somethin' Bleck... That's the guy who says... Woo?"
"Well perfect." Dimentio thought as Mimi appeared in the room.
"Gosh, O'Chunks, QUIT IT! You're breaking windows! What are you yelling about?"
The secretary answered for him, "Oh, that? Yeah, I just had O'Chunks come up with a nice motivational tune. And as punishment for getting beat by that hero AGAIN, I'm making him sing it 1,000 times."
The shapeshifters eyes widened in surprise, "1,000... 1,000 TIMES?! Gosh, you're even more evil than I thought!"
Dimentio floated over and whispered in her ear, "Only a bit cruel dear, not evil." He had to stop her from jumping and alerting the others to his presence.
She nodded slightly, "Hey, but enough chatting! So where's the Count, huh? I wanna see him! He hasn't called me to go do anything, and I'm getting SOOOOOOOOO BORED!" Mimi whined.
Another voice echoed in the meeting room, "HEY, COUNT?"
Dimentio squeezed her shoulder, "Oh the day just keeps getting better..."
Mr L landed on a pedestal, "My destructive little friend is all gassed up and itching to get back in action. Yes, Brobot is begging me to take him out. Say the word, and I'll roll out."
Nastasia dismissed him, "Yeah, great enthusiasm, but let's shelve the robot action plan for now, 'K? The thing is, the count kinda left specific orders for us to stand by. Got that?"
"No way! We're just supposed to wait here for that big, mean hero to come get us?" Mimi whined.
Mr. L on the other hand kept his cool, "So the count doesn't need my services? Excellent. I'll just be off, then."
"YOU GO NOWHERE! We wait! It's the count's direct order! His word is absolute! Be a good little minion and DO NOT MOVE UNTIL TOLD! ...'K? Thanks." The pink haired woman left without waiting for a reply.
"But I'm boooooooooored!" Mimi continued to gripe.
"And Brobot craves his daily SMASH! I can't just loiter here. There's no action!"
"Ah ha ha. Hard to stay still when you pine for sweet vengeance, isn't it?" Dimentio distanced himself from the girl and made himself visible.
They jumped, "Dimentio!"
"The count's orders are all absolute… completely without exception, yes? We shouldn't even dare to think about a secret sneak attack. Perish the thought! Defeating the hero would please the count greatly… but we MUST follow orders!" Dimentio smirked as he baited the mechanic.
Mimi got the hint, "...Oopsie! I just remembered something real important that I gotta do! Back in a jiffy! Bye!" She flipped away.
"Yeaaah... Yeah. I've, uh...got to go deflavorize the Brobot's uh... Flavorizer. I'll return once everything's up to code. L-ater, Dimentio." He left as well.
"Ah ha ha. My, my, isn't that something? So weak minded. I do believe I should be moving on as well." He warped back to his room, leaving O'chunks to recover from his 'song'.
Star was curled up on his bed asleep once again. Dimentio sat beside her, his emotions between content and anxious, "We could stay like this, I don't have to…"
Star whimpered, "No… NO! PLEASE, I LOVE YOU! Don't go..."
"She's dreaming again..." When he'd come back after finding O'chunks earlier she'd been muttering names in her sleep. He had yelled to wake her up then, not wanting to hear what she was saying. But now he felt the need to torture himself.
"Why… you said you loved me… DON'T LEAVE ME!" She sobbed.
"Cara Bella… Shh… No one is leaving you." He wrapped himself around the girl trying to calm her down.
She grasped him tightly, "Don't go."
"I won't." He promised.
"Wha… Dimentio?" Star pulled back, her features still taut with sorrow.
"You were crying and I couldn't wake you up, so I tried to calm you down instead." The lie came quickly and he wished it hadn't.
"Okay. Thank you…" She put her head on his knee, still sniffling a bit.
"Let's go on a picnic." He offered quietly.
"A picnic? Now?"
It was an odd request but he needed to get away from the castle for a bit, and preferably with her by his side, "Why not? I've taken enough from you today and I'd like to treat you to dinner."
"Oh." She sniffled again, "I guess that would be nice."
Dimentio squeezed her hand, "I'll come to your room in half an hour."
"I'll see you then." The door shut gently behind her.
Dimentio was happy to see her at least smiling again. "Ah ha ha. And now I get to break or fix her. Like a machinist with a damaged part." He laughed dryly to himself.
This was one date he was not looking forward to.
Star
Star tried to forget the vivid dream as Dimentio walked in. "So, you're trying to bribe me with food?"
He put the basket to the side and sat next to her, "Why am I bribing you?"
"Well you must want something. I don't know why else you'd want to take me anywhere."
The jester frowned at her. "Maybe… Just maybe… And please remember this is a bit of a stretch here. I enjoy your company. No no I'm terribly sorry, I'm being stupid."
She shoved him. "Yes, you are."
"Shall we?" He offered his arm.
Star opened her eyes to blackness, "Dimentio, it's dark."
"Shhh... Give me a moment." He snapped his fingers.
Flowers of many colors began blooming in the shrubbery around them, each emitting a faint light. Star could see that they were completely enclosed by thick bushes and trees. The only opening was above them.
"Wow." Star said in awe of the jeweled sky. The void had eaten away much of the sky and this was the first time in awhile that she had seen just the stars.
"It is beautiful, isn't it?" Dimentio said noticing her stare.
She nodded and took a flower into her hand. "What is this place?"
"It's just a little area I found in my travels. All the plants you see now were dead, so it healed it and added a bit of magic in the process."
"I thought you said you couldn't use healing magic." The earth beneath her was soft as she sat down.
"I can't heal people. Plants on the other hand I've always been able to manipulate." He opened up the basket, "Ah! Well, it seems we have another guest."
"Shine you naughty little thing." The kitten batted back her master's hand.
Dimentio chuckled and left Star to fight with her cat. He unpacked their dinner and threw a strawberry at Star, "Come on."
"Is this mine?" She asked as she sat down.
"Uh huh. Here." He handed her a drink.
"Thanks. Did you make this? It's very good."
"As much as I would like to take the compliment, Nastasia's the chef here."
"What did you say to get her to make them?" She didn't believe the secretary would be so willing to assist the jester.
"I told her we going on a date."
"A date?"
"Well I mean… I just-"
She kissed his cheek, "I'm kidding Dimentio, Grambi." The man was falling apart more and more every day.
Dimentio
"O- oh. Yeah..." He knew she was giggling at the blush peeking out from under his mask. Dimentio elbowed her gently, "Shut up and eat."
Dimentio could already feel his discomfort ebbing away. This wasn't so bad. It would all be ruined soon enough, but he was planning to enjoy what little peace he got before the storm came crashing in.
The night passed slowly and in that time Star found her way into his arms. He followed whatever conversations she started, only switching gears when the topic became too familiar.
He shook his head at the childish comment she made, "Starlin I-" Dimentio immediately caught his mistake. But to his surprise, she looked less than shocked.
"It is you, isn't it?" The disappointment in her voice sliced through him. "There were so many similarities... I ignored them all... I didn't want to believe it."
Star pulled off his hat and he tilted his head down so she could remove the mask as well. She took a shaky breath and dropped it to the side.
"What... Why…" She couldn't seem to finish her thoughts and in a way, Dimentio was glad she didn't. He wouldn't know how to answer her.
"You came back." She finally got out.
"I told you I would."
"You said three months."
"I… I didn't think it would be this long."
"It's been three years."
"I know, I know." Dimentio had practiced his speech day day after day. He had never felt necessarily confident in his words, but he'd expected to at least be able to get out a beginning of an explanation, "Starlin..."
"Sinclair." He paled at the way she said his name. Her voice was no long despondent, but firm and confident. She was going to lash out at him any second.
He dug into the ground, "All I wanted was one more day." He sighed, his voice below a whisper.
"Sin, I'm not the one who has to talk here. You need to say something, anything!"
Dimentio held her gaze. "Starlin I know you're upset and we have so much to discuss. Maybe it's too much to ask for, but can we wait until the morning? I swear I'll tell you everything. And after that I don't care what you decide. All I want is to be close to you again, even if it's just for one night." His words were sincere. That's all he'd ever asked for; Just a bit more time.
Star
Despite her questions, Star had let him hold her her close, she'd let him lay with her. She needed him just as much as he craved her, if not more so. Throughout it all he whispered apologizes into her hair, her lips, and the crook of her neck. Part of her had been lulled into thinking she should forgive him without another thought. Without an explanation of what they had become.
But none of that mattered as he pulled the picnic blanket around them. She found his lips one last time before giving in to her exhaustion.
