Find peace, and help the flowers grow

[lostinmyway]

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.]

Comments

[lostinmyway]

Grune hasn't moved in the time he was gone, and the hole she's been making hasn't gotten much larger. She looks up when he asks his question, but her expression is distant.

"...I don't think so," she says finally, still subdued.

[foundafamily]

Joking is the wrong route to take, it seems. He probably should’ve seen it coming.

Firo works the shovel farther into the ground, then looks up at her. Might as well just be direct. “Are you okay?”

He’s never been one of those gangsters who delighted in deaths, but he’s also not the type to truly grieve over someone he’s never met. He realizes that others are different, and he can usually respect those differences when they exist in one of his friends.

[lostinmyway]

"Oh, yes, I'm just fine," she answers right away, but it's obvious she's working on autopilot.

She keeps digging.

[foundafamily]

He shakes his head. “You’re not. I’ve never seen you like this before.”

“I’m not sayin’ you don’t have a reason for it—“ He tosses a shovelful to the side and uses the tool to indicate the bundle. Unsure how to continue, he hesitates, “—but you can tell me how you feel.”

[lostinmyway]

A small smile appears on her face and she stops digging as Firo speaks. After a long moment, she raises her eyes to him and sits back.

"I wish...." she begins, then sighs. "I wish I could have helped. Or I wish I could have kept this person company. It's very sad to be alone at the end."

[foundafamily]

“But… you couldn’t help all that, could you?” Was this person even alive when she got here? He shakes his head. “And how do you know that they deserved anybody—maybe they were a huge jerk!”

[lostinmyway]

Her gaze on him grows heavier; her voice is quiet indeed when she speaks, and somehow a little deeper. "No one deserves to die alone, Firo."

[foundafamily]

"I could name a few."

Though he wouldn't say or admit that those words could be something to be ashamed of, he looks away from her after he says that. "But that's not the point." He waves his free hand impatiently. "You don't have to take all this on yourself."

[lostinmyway]

...She wishes Firo didn't think that way. He must have been hurt very badly to believe that, and that makes her sad.

For now, she focuses on what he says next. "Oh, but I'm not. After all, you're right here with me."

[foundafamily]

He smiles just a tad as he continues to shovel. "And I'll stay right here, I promise." No one could leave a friend like this.

"I just mean that you don't have to be the one who feels bad about it. If nobody was there for 'em, it wasn't your fault."

[lostinmyway]

She smiles a little, too. Firo is such a good friend.

"I know. But it's sad when someone dies, even if it isn't someone you knew."

[foundafamily]

"I guess." Sad seems to be something of a strong word for it, in his opinion. Firo tries not to feel too deeply when it's not someone he's friends with--though it's harder for him than he likes to pretend--and he wonders if Grune would benefit from learning that.

He focuses on his digging as he tries to find the right words. "You can't... You should try to forget about this kinda stuff faster. This guy doesn't care anymore, so why should you?" Assuming she doesn't believe that the person's soul still cares in the afterlife, but Firo thinks that's all bunk.

[lostinmyway]

She pauses in her digging and her head tilts to one side. "Well...wouldn't you like to be remembered, Firo?"

[foundafamily]

Without even a moment to think, he smiles and shakes his head. “Not if it’d make you this sad.”

[lostinmyway]

"But I'd like to remember you, even if it makes me sad," she says, leaning forward. "Because if I forgot about you so I wouldn't be sad, I wouldn't remember all the times we were happy together."

[foundafamily]

He leans back, staring down at the dirt. "I guess that makes sense... And I couldn't stop you anyway." Much as he'd like to insist that she move on after he dies.

"But this guy..." He doesn't like the thought of being the one to make Grune sad. And he can't die anyway, so why get stuck on thinking about himself? Better get back to the corpse at hand. "I'm gonna guess you didn't know 'em, based on how you said you found 'em. So there's no good stuff to remember, so you can just go ahead and forget, right?"

1/2

[lostinmyway]

She shakes her head and smiles. "It's all right if you want to forget them, Firo. But I want to remember them."

2/2

[lostinmyway]

With her next words, her voice changes, sounding almost grave. "Even if I'm the only one in all the worlds."

[foundafamily]

He watches her closely, noting the shift in her voice. Is this her true self poking through? Or something else?

“That’s a lot for one person to do. Why’s it gotta be you?”

He has a feeling that he knows why. But, as always, he doesn’t like it.

[lostinmyway]

She looks at him--past him. She doesn't reply.

[foundafamily]

Firo continues shoveling as he waits for her to response. But then it seems that no response is going to come, so he looks back up again. He hesitates a moment more, almost afraid to ask. “…What is it?”

[lostinmyway]

At his question, belatedly, she blinks. "Hmm?"

[foundafamily]

Maybe it was nothing? With something this emotional, though, Firo doesn't want to take chances. "You were starin'. Are you all right? It was like you were somewhere else for a second."

[lostinmyway]

"Oh, was it?" She blinks some more. "Hmmm...."

[foundafamily]

“You’re gonna make me worry about you.” He tries to smile to show that he’s joking. But he is worried—her spaciness seems a bit different than normal. Could that be grief?