castle_perrault | Find peace, and help the flowers grow

When Grune had first arrived at the castle, Sans had shown her a very fun room. In it, everything is made of candy that grows back when you eat it. There's something else inside the room, too, covered by a strange sort of slippery cloth, but Sans hadn't let her look at it. He'd said it was a surprise present for Frisk. To help him keep the present a surprise, she'd agreed not to look.

But after some time, the memory had faded, and so today, when she steps into the candy room, her curiosity is caught by the big object covered in cloth. (Had that always been there?)

Humming quietly, she steps forward and lifts the edge of the covering.

...Oh.

She pulls the cloth the rest of the way from the giant birdcage and opens the door. It takes some effort to make it move, but soon she can reach in and carefully take the bones from the cage.

At first, she begins to wrap them in the strange cloth, but--she doesn't really like the feel on her hands. It wouldn't be a very nice place to stay wrapped up in, she thinks. And so she leaves the room and instead brings down a curtain from a large bed. It's a faded red and feels much better.

She returns to the candy room and places the bones into that sheet instead. Then, with the remains wrapped up and cradled in her arms, she leaves the castle to find a good place for this person to rest. She only has her trowel to dig, so it's going to take her a long time, but that's all right. This is important.

[OOC: Feel free to encounter Grune at any point during this post, including when she's digging in the garden.]

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Her head tilts. "Don't they?"

But she does that with her friends all the time.

He shakes his head, trying to distract himself by beginning to shovel again. "O-of course not! That's just for people who're, like... you know, married."

Yes, even on the cheek. No one never claimed that Firo's expectations about love and affection were realistic.

"Are you sure?" she asks. That doesn't sound quite right to her....

Seeing Firo resume digging, she kneels down again and picks up her trowel to do the same. The hole is getting bigger now. That's good.

Even Grune? Firo expected skepticism on such things from his mobster friends, but if more polite company still found it odd... Maybe he was wrong.

"S-sure I'm sure!" He lowers his voice a little, "The one right after you get married--that's supposed to be the first. I mean, i-if she's okay with it." You could always wait a few years for sure. Just to be safe.

"She?" She's getting more confused by the moment. "But how do you show your friends you love them very much?"

You don't.

"Other ways. That's just for the person you love, like... you know. You do different things for your friends."

"Oh, like what?"

Her hands slow their work.

"Like... Well, your hugs are fine." Grune might shrivel up and die if she couldn't show affection to people, and they can't risk that! "But... um, well. Like, if I was with most of my friends, I'd punch 'em or slap 'em or something."

It's the manly way.

Her eyes widen. "My, really?"

But what if he hurt them? Then he would feel bad, because Firo is very kind.

That look makes him feel guilty, but what for? It's totally a normal thing for guys to do!

"W-well, yeah, but..." He shrugs. "It's just what guys do."

"Do they?"

She frowns a little, thinking about that. Does Lucas do that? Or Sans? Or Giles?

"Sure they do. You should see Claire and Berga when they run into each other after not talkin' for a while. They'll beat the crap outta each other."

This is definitely normal. Grune probably just doesn't get it because she's a kind and classy lady.

Her frown grows. "Because they're friends?"

He bobs his head up and down. "Exactly. That's how they've always been. They're brothers, so..."

It should be self-evident now, right? The depth of their fighting is simply the representation of how incredibly close they are.

"So?"

Did Firo forget to finish his sentence?

Apparently clarification is needed. Who would've thought? "So they're really close! And so they hit each other all the time."

"...Oh. All right."

She still doesn't really understand what Firo is saying, but he understands, and so that's all right.

After a moment, she looks down at the hole they're making together. Is it large enough yet?

He almost wonders if he should explain it further, but he's probably tangled this enough.

His expression sobers when she looks at the hole. "What do you think? Are you ready?"

She nods, then looks up at him. "Are you?"

He nods back. "Then I am too."

"Do we... do we just put it in there and cover it back up? I've never been to one of these before."

"We put them inside the hole, and then we say nice things. And then we tuck them in," she explains. "After that, we can put flowers on top, and a stone to mark the place."

"Okay." He scratches his head. "...You wanna start?"

She probably has more nice things to say than him.

"All right."

With all the gentleness she has, she takes the person wrapped in their sheet into her arms. She steps into the grave with them, lays them down, and then steps out again.

"There you go. Now you can stay nice and safe." She smiles just a little at them. "I'm sorry we didn't have the chance to be friends. I hope you feel better out here. There are lots of flowers and the sunshine is nice and warm."

Firo rises to his feet as she moves the body. He feels stupid saying anything, considering his views on life and death. These bones are nothing to him--or, he thinks they should be. But if they're nothing, then there's no harm in saying something to make Grune happy, right?

"Uh, yeah. What she said." He clears his throat, stalling for time. He knows simply seconding her isn't enough. "Nothin' else bad can happen while you're out here, so... Enjoy?"

She watches him as he speaks; when he's finished, she smiles. It's small, but it's heartfelt.

"Thank you, Firo." She takes his hand for a moment. "Now we can tuck them in."