Work Text:
“Hey Cross..?”
Cross looked over to him as he handed him a blueberry muffin, which he happily ate. (Truth be told, Cross became a baker. Maybe it was how it was always warm, with saccharine treats- Even the relaxing break of waiting.) “Yeah? What’s up?”
“I just.. I’m happy, I really am, that we get to have our ending together, but.. It just.. It just feels like something’s wrong, like we’re missing something.”
Cross went quiet for a moment before nodding. “..Yeah.” He said, and it was clear he was a little hesitant.
To be fair, we hadn’t really talked about this. Sure, we were happy now, living our own lives together, but..
The topic of Dust and Horror had gone unsaid. We weren’t sure if it’d trigger something, or if we even wanted to talk about it at all, so this was still new.
“We never gave them a proper burial. I mean we won’t be able to make a burial, but they just- They don’t have a grave, Cross. It’s like they disappeared, and no one will know they existed in the end.”
“..So you want to have a funeral for them?”
“I do. I really do.”
Cross sat down next to him at the table.
“Okay. Where do you wanna do it?”
Killer shrugged. “I mean.. I think they’d like to have a grave at home y’know? I just..-“
“Don’t know where home is for them?” Cross softly completed his sentence.
“I don’t either. Who knows what home might even be.” He continued.
“I mean.. His castle was their home.” Killer spoke, refusing to use his name.
“Not anymore. Their death place, yes , but.. I doubt they felt like it was home after we left.”
Killer could only nod, his face unreadable.
“So then what was home?” He muttered, focusing before being pushed out of his thoughts when Cross put a hand on top of his. “Hey. Focus on me, okay? You’re not alone in this, we can figure it out together.”
Killer gave a small smile back. “..Yeah.”
There was a pause.
“What if their home was with us?” Killer asked.
“What do you mean?”
“You said it stopped being home for them when we left, but they felt at home while we were still there. So what if their home was with us?” He asked again.
Cross blinked. “Yeah, that makes sense. ..Where do we put the graves though?”
Killer hesitated.
“Graveyards are a big no. I think.. they would prefer to have it more personal instead of something anyone can go to and vandalize, yknow? Sometimes people don’t respect the place, and we both know they were never good with meeting new people.. so why not keep them with us? We have space in the backyard.”
Cross nodded, taking his hand in his and giving a gentle squeeze. “You’re always a thoughtful thinker, Kills.”
Killer chuckled lightly. “I try to.”
“So where do we start?”
“We make our own things, duh. Buying some cheap plastic headstone is disrespectful. It means more if we do it, and plus we have the funds-“
“Okay, but you’re gonna have to help.”
“I knowwww.” Killer dragged out jokingly.
“Well then. I think theres this one shop in the village that sells wood and stone and such, and there’s a blacksmith too. We can get the tools and materials needed. Do you want me to buy it, or you?”
He thought for a moment. “Nah. The townsfolk don’t like me as much as you, and I don’t feel like conversing with others unless it’s you.”
“Are you sure? We can go together.”
“I don’t wanna get a headache from some whiny person when this day is meant for them. ”
“Okay.”
He waved and Killer waved back, and then he left.
Alright.
Mission set up the area is a go.
So he walked outside into the backyard and then blinked.
They had a shovel right?
For whatever reason the shovel was just laying in the grass. At least it was light enough he could carry, but heavy to where he kinda had to drag it instead.
Maybe he should’ve made a sacrifice for the team and bought the stuff instead.
Dust would probably laugh at him, saying something about karma.
Horror might’ve gotten some cold drinks to help beat the summer sun, as well as a few sweet pastries he’d absolutely have filled with so much loving intent. (Dust’s were always more packed full of em though. He always went purple after eating just one.)
So with a sigh, he shoveled the dirt, flipping the green side upside down so there was just brown dirt in a rectangle shape.
There. That looks okay right?
There’s even room for the headstones.
Uhhhh.
He thought for a moment before plopping the shovel down onto the ground for it to be forgotten for who knows how long again.
Now what?
Flowers maybe? He could pick some and lay them next to their graves, but.. they’d die if he just picked them.
Maybe he could get some seeds, and other flowers that’d have been cut properly and everything.
Killer groaned internally at the thought of having to speak to the gardener or whoever was selling seeds at the town.
Would they even want flowers?
Dust might think of it as more of an ehh, but he didn’t think the big guy ever minded some flowers.
And Dust tended to go along with whatever Horror wanted, even if he jokingly protested..
Ah, flowers it is.
Wait shit does he have to go?
But Cross already went through the trouble of buying things without him because he just kinda can’t.
It’d be unfair of him now to tell him to go back again.
So with a sigh, he left the makeshift graves, went back into the house, taking some gold (honestly he had no idea how much seeds were) , and then went into town.
Dust and Horror better be proud of him for making an effort, because the only reason he’s doing this is for them.
Ah, sacrifice upon sacrifice.
His luck absolutely stinks.
He could spot Cross speaking to some people outside of their shops (and some stands). It looked to be getting a little heated, so he walked over. “Heya bud. What are you two talking about?”
Cross looked surprised for a moment, before changing to a bit of exasperation. “This guy over here keeps marking up his prices.”
Said person raised their eyebrow, disgust evident on their face. Were they really dealing with racists right now?
“Well I can make it whatever I want because I own the store and you don’t. Who even are you?”
“Ah, well. It’s unfair. I can look behind me and see a few of your previous customers, and I bet that they probably didn’t have to deal with your insanely high prices.” Killer remarked, yet avoiding the question of who he was. He bet the other would start screaming the moment he said his name. It was kinda murder-y anyway.
“Well it’s not my fault if you can’t afford it.”
Cross leaned closer to Killer. “I’m gonna go ahead and get the stones alright? You deal with the blacksmith. And what else did you need?”
“Seeds. For flowers.” Cross nodded in understanding before walking away.
Killer had tuned out whatever the guy was saying, so the sudden increase in volume caused him to jump. “HEY! WHERE DO YOU THINK YOU’RE GOING!? YOU CAN’T JUST WALK AWAY!”
Killer growled. “Yes he can. He’s not buying anything from you , nor am I.”
“I WAS TALKING TO IT!”
He really wanted to smack someone.
“ HIM.” He coughed, cooling down. “And you can talk to me instead. Or is that a problem?”
“Not a problem as long as you buy something. Time is money, I’m sure you can understand?”
“Yeah well we wouldn’t be wasting your time if you weren’t wasting ours with your stupid prices..” He mumbled.
“EXCUSE ME?”
“Actually excuse me , but I’m heading out now. This isn’t worth it.”
“But you need me! You went here for a reason! YOU CAN’T DO WHAT YOU WERE DOING OTHERWISE! You wanted a tool right ?”
Killer was getting tired very easily. Yeah, no, he’s gonna get a headache if he keeps yelling at him.
“Not really.”
“WHAT? BUT NO ONE MAKES BETTER TOOLS THAN I!”
“We really don’t need to have the proper tools y’know? We have other things.”
“THEN WHY DID YOU COME HERE?”
“Uh, because we wanted it to be perfect?”
“THEN I CAN HELP YOU! JUST BUY IT, IT’LL ONLY BE A MEASLY 999G!”
“What a scam.”
“WHAT?”
“Are you deaf ?”
“No-”
“Then you shouldn’t have to ask me to repeat myself. Now good day sir .” He turned around.
“I KNOW ABOUT YOUR SIDE BUSINESS!” He literally yelled for everyone to hear.
Killer raised an invisible eyebrow. “Really?”
“I’LL TELL EVERYONE IF YOU DON’T BUY SOMETHING!”
“Wow, really? Blackmail? Well ouch buddy, but if you’re gonna do something like that then at least do something that’ll hurt.”
“I’LL TELL YOUR FRIEND!”
“You’re literally yelling for the whole town to hear. Jeez old man you’re gonna make me go deaf. Also my ‘friend’ is my husband, and literally doesn’t care.”
The guy gasped. “CRIMINALS! THEY’RE BOTH CRIMINALS! YOU TWO ARE GOING TO HELL!”
Killer gave him a middle finger before leaving, hearing the thump of hopefully him falling over and fainting because screw him.
They’re probably just gonna use knives instead.
So with a sigh, he put his hands in his pockets and waited for Cross.
Not too long later, Cross reappeared out of the gardening shop or whatever it’s called, holding a leather bag that held a bouquet of flowers, and assumedly the seeds.
The next bag had two stone slabs, with looked kinda heavy actually.
Killer walked over, holding a hand out to take one of the bags, and being met with the flower bag. Ah, of course.
..He honestly doubted he could carry even one stone slab.
After a while, they made it back home. Killer set down the flower bag, looking through it to see what the seeds were, as well as the flowers.
Red chrysanthemums for ‘I love you’,
White lilies for purity, not to mention them being funeral flowers.
Black-eyed Susans for justice .
Pink camellias for ‘longing for you’ .
Pink carnations for ‘I’ll never forget you ’.
Edelweiss for courage and devotion .
And dark crimson roses for mourning .
..Truth be told though, it was Horror who grew an interest in flowers and plants, and Dust who learned flower language, who then taught Killer and Cross because we ( more so being Killer) wouldn’t stop bothering them.
It was sweet, really. Using something we all had learned together for them . For this .
Killer wasn’t really sure what to believe for this stuff though. That there’s an afterlife, that we can send them off..
But it felt wrong not to do anything.
So he grinned. “This is perfect!”
His soul felt heavy, with the reminder of their deaths. We weren’t able to help them but at least they died together right? He hoped, at least.
If there is an afterlife, then please, whoever’s in control of that.
Don’t separate them.
It was a shame that we didn’t have their dust, though. As far as he had heard with human and monster things, they burn the body to get ashes/dust, and then let it go in a place they always wanted to go.
He thought maybe Dust and Horror had liked it as it was. They liked being home.
..The least they could’ve done was bring the dust with them here in their new home, but it’s stuck in their old ‘home’.
Unless they died outside, but he doubted it.
Well- There wasn’t time to deal with this now. It’s the afternoon now, so with a sigh, he got out the flowers and seeds.
“So, knife carving huh?” Cross nervously said.
Killer chuckled. “Yep. Nothing can go wrong with a trusty knife.”
“Besides making it horribly look wrong?”
“Eh, we’ll get an A for effort.”
“True.”
“I’m gonna go plant the flowers, you can get started.”
Cross nodded, and with his arms full he headed into the backyard.
He looked up at the sky. It was too bright to see the stars, but some people believed that their loved ones were watching over them from the stars.
He wasn’t all too sure if he believed that, but if it was true, then, he hoped that they were watching him.
That they could see that it was finally over, that they were okay.
Maybe even see all this effort they’re putting in for some grave that Dust probably would complain about it being too much, but appreciate it along with Horror.
He thought that it might’ve been perfect.
The best they could’ve done, made by the hands of people who they both loved.
He shook himself out of his sad thoughts, looking down at the two dirt rectangles next to each other, before getting down onto his knees. He would’ve gotten a trowel, but then other things happened, so a knife would have to work.
Killer summoned one into his hands, setting the flowers and seeds down.
He stuck the blade into the dirt, using way too much effort than should be (honestly the dirt was heavier than the blade itself), and made a small hole.
Then he put in one of the flowers, and covered it again with the dirt using the knife.
This was going to take awhile.
And it did.
He didn’t rush it. He gently did it, as if he had all the time in the world to make sure it looked absolutely beautiful.
It was the most the duo had deserved, he knew that much.
And maybe he hadn’t thought of them that much, but there was just so much happening then, and at least it was over now, at a time that we can finally do this .
When we’ve settled down.
Maybe some of the villagers were awful, and he never wanted to talk to them ever again, but they were peaceful here, and they didn’t even have to talk to them, they could get everything they needed on their own for free, at the cost of some effort and time.
So when the flowers were done, he let out a breath he hadn’t known he was holding, scooting backwards.
He knew his shorts were really dirty now with the dirt and mud, but he couldn’t find it in himself to care.
He’d get himself dirty a thousand times over if it meant he could make this perfect .
..He was relaxed.
Killer paid no mind to the soft footsteps against the ground, watching as Cross came into view, holding both of the headstones.
He stood up, taking one of the headstones and looking to see which.
Cross smiled softly towards him.
It was Dust’s.
Carefully, they set the headstones down onto the ground.
Dust’s was on the left, and Horror’s was to the right, but they were directly next to each other.
“..It’s perfect.” Cross whispered, and it almost felt like they were the only ones left in this world.
For a moment, it was.
For a moment it was just them, and a home for four .
Dust
XXXX-XXXX
A teammate, a friend, a lover, and a brother.
Selfless till the end.
Horror
XXXX-XXXX
A teammate, a friend, a lover, and a brother.
Till death did we part.
He wanted to cry, yet nothing came out, just choked off noises.
Cross put a hand on his back, rubbing soothing circles. “It’s okay, it’s okay.”
He didn’t know how he felt, or what he thought when his legs wobbled and he fell onto his knees.
It was like his soul was bursting with emotion, and it hurt .
He could even see some scratches or uneven carvings in the stone, but it was perfect because it was imperfect.
It was just so perfect.
“Welcome to the family..” He softly whispered.
He really hoped they could watch over them in the afterlife.
Even if it hurts- ..maybe it’d all be worth it after this.
To be able to let go, to have that sense of relief that it’s over.
That they don’t have any more unfinished business in the living world.
That’s what it had felt like, making their grave.
Telling them that it’s okay, and that they’re done, that they don’t need to do anything else.
No more worry, hate, or fear. Nothing but relief.
That was his meaning for making graves.
And for a moment, he could pretend that the villagers won’t get annoyed, that they can live here forever, without the worry of any more troubles coming after them.
For a moment, he could feel the relief the other two might’ve had.
And he was glad.
He felt free for once, even if for just a second.