[FRAG] Grieve in Blood

"Oh. You're back." 

Morning Star smiled to the best of his ability, even though his legs trembled. His head was pounding; the lack of Magninium in the air and his proximity to the gold was making concentrating on anything nearly impossible. But he had to look polite, had to keep up appearances. He was trying to help. He needed to help.

"What do you want, magic-beast?" Sterling sneered, leaning forward. A gold ingot slid away slightly and he scrambled to catch it before it rolled off the pile entirely. Morning Star politely ignored the mild panic, simply smiling and waiting. Sterling re-asserted himself and crossed his upper arms. "You didn't lose the other hourglass, did you?"

"No, I didn't. I actually c-came here to offer something."

Sterling's eyes narrowed. "For what?"

"N-nothing. I'm not doing this f-for my own gain."

"Liar." Sterling's voice was packed with anger, frustration, and distrust. 

Morning Star had to physically keep himself from frowning, but the realization why the other was so nervous broke his heart. People had used Sterling, manipulated him, left him to rot. All because he was made out of gold instead of Magninium. It was absolutely, truly sickening. Someone had been so abused by the system that the very idea of someone offering something selflessly to them was rejected as lies.

That was the exact thing he was trying to fix.

"What are you staring at?"

Shit, he was lost in thought too long. "I-I just felt bad. B-because I'm not lying. I want to h-help you get enough gold."

Now Sterling's eyes narrowed further. "And why would you do something like that?"

"Because I-I think y-you deserve some friends."

Silence. Sterling tilted his head slightly, not letting the annoyance drop from his face. Morning Star stood true, hands crossed politely over his lap. It was entirely possible Sterling would scoff and tell him to leave, or deny his help, or accuse him of being a liar, again. That was his prerogative, though, his choice. Morning Star would accept without complaint.

But he really, really hoped that Sterling would agree.

"So you're offering to help me find more gold," Sterling spoke, slowly, as if he was thinking through each syllable before speaking.

Morning Star perked up, nodding. "Yes!" 

"You know I'm not allowed to leave. And you creatures can't touch gold."

"I went through a-and read through your case file." Morning Star procured a folder from thin air, opening it. Even that small use of Magninium was exhausting. "You're allowed to leave your pocket Timeline if a-a Fragment accompanies you. A-and I'm a Fragment. So w-we could go out and try to find you m-more gold. Enough for you to m-make someone else?"

Sterling stared down at him, expression marred by distrust and distance. Neither said a word for a few seconds again, no noise hanging between them.

Morning Star's smile twitched. "That i-is what you were planning, right?"

Sterling heaved himself down from his piles, gold clinking and falling off. Morning Star scuttled back, avoiding the falling poison as deftly as possible. Sterling crawled to the floor and stood up straight, dusting himself off and putting his upper arms on his hips.

"Where, exactly, do you expect to find enough gold to complete my collection?"

Slowly, surely, a smile formed on Morning Star's face. "I know a place."

--------------------

It was hard not to grin when Morning Star heard Sterling audibly gasp. They'd had to make the long journey on foot - Sterling was incapable of teleporting, and Morning Star was incapable of teleporting him due to his makeup. But it was worth it, to hear the other's surprise as the Junkyard came into view.

Morning Star gestured to the massive gates that guarded the treasures within. "I told you I knew a place." his voice was far more confident and sure without constantly being assaulted by the presence of gold - Sterling alone wasn't enough to cause any ill side effects.

Which was weird, he supposed. Sterling was made out of more gold than was in his mansion....

"How - when?" Sterling managed. Morning Star glanced back at him, letting his eyes wander over Sterling's clasped hands, the slightly-open jaw, the wide eyes. Surprised was not an expression he'd realized the other could make. "The Coalition...?"

"No idea." Morning Star fished Magnotris' keycard out of his shirt, holding it by the lanyard. "It's been here as long as I can remember. Not a lot of people can get in, though."

He swiped the card at the gates, and they hummed before beeping affirmatively. One door cracked open, and Sterling pushed forward himself to open it, all four arms gripping the gate. Morning Star paused to watch. He hadn't been aware that the lower arms were even useful.

"I supposed you weren't lying," Sterling grumbled, trying to keep the excitement from his tone, but his quicker pace and wide eyes betrayed him. 

Morning Star pulled the gate closed behind them. "I don't lie."

Sterling half-turned. "At all? That's ridiculous."

"Maybe." Morning Star tucked the keycard into his shirt again. "But that's not important right now. Let's find some of that high-quality gold, alright?"

Without even thanking him, Sterling ducked towards one of the massive piles, wordlessly digging through its materials and tossing them aside. It wasn't long before he uncovered a small black box, gesturing to Morning Star with movements too quick to be anything but excited.

Morning Star allowed him a small smile as he crouched down to unlock the box. A rather large piece of gold was within, and Sterling nearly squealed in delight. Honestly? Adorable. Precious, even. It was so nice to see the other so genuinely happy and feel safe enough that he could express himself around Morning Star. He couldn't keep the smile from his expression as Sterling scooped up the gold and magicked it away, presumably to his mansion.

And off he went, running into another pile. Morning Star stuffed hands in his pockets, following behind at a amicable pace. The Junkyard wasn't the nicest place the COR maintained (owned?), but it did hold good memories for him. Ones he cherished. The massive piles of useless artifacts and hoarded gold were the keepers of some of his favorite things. 

He wished he knew more history about the Junkyard. Whose idea was it? Why this Timeline? Where were they putting all the useless things? Why didn't they just erase them from existence? Well, the gold made sense... they couldn't just get rid of it, so they stewed it around in goldproof boxes. It didn't even radiate any toxins when locked behind talc.

"Another!" Sterling pointed at a larger box. "Open it!"

Morning Star shuffled to his side, popping the lid. Sterling hurriedly held the gold close to his chest before teleporting it. Not even a second after it disappeared, he dove back into the pile with haste. Quietly, Morning Star watched his frantic movements.

"How much more gold do you need?" he spoke up, sitting down next to the other.

Sterling paused, face narrowing in concentration. He glanced down, then up at the sky, and then at his lower arms. "Uh. I don't know."

"It's alright," Morning Star interjected, "we'll just have to collect as much gold as possible then, yeah?"

Sterling stared at him for a few seconds before reverently nodding and returning to the dig. It wasn't long before he pried a few other boxes free - always careful to keep his skin from coming in direct contact - and magicked away the glittering gold within. Sometimes junk would teeter and fall off the pile - a twisted and warped gun, some sort of strange, locked box. Literal garbage, dumped here for whatever reason that Morning Star couldn't fathom.

Morning Star glanced up, watching the sun dip past its highest point. 

"Do you think they'll let me?"

Morning Star glanced back down. Sterling was sitting on his knees, hands curled in his lap, staring at the pile of metals, broken weaponry, and refuse. "Let you do what?"

"Make another gold person."

"They can't stop you, you know." 

"They'll get angry at me."

Morning Star shifted slightly closer. "Sometimes it's worth it having people get mad at you for a little bit, if you do the right thing in the end."

"This is the right thing?" Sterling looked up at him, a bit too hopefully.

He was greeted with a warm smile. "Sure it is! You're alive. You deserve companionship and care, just like anyone else."

"Wow," Sterling spoke, slowly, softly, as if a great realization had finally settled on him. "That's... really smart. You're smart." 

"Well. I didn't come up with that myself." Morning Star wiped his mouth with the back of a sleeve.

Sterling had returned to starting to sift through garbage again. "Oh? Who did?"

"I dunno who came up with it first, but Magnotris was the person who told me that for the first time."

A pause, Sterling's face scrunched in concentration. It took a second before realization blossomed. "That gray Fragment you were with?"

"Yeah, that's Magnotris."

"Do you two hang out a lot?"

"Yeah...." Morning Star glanced down. "But we're taking a little break right now."

Sterling glanced over wordlessly.

Morning Star grinned again, rubbing the back of his neck and letting out a tiny, awkward ha. "Just some issues. We'll be over it soon, it's nothing serious. That kinda thing happens all the time in relationships and stuff. Sometimes you have a disagreement and gotta cool off."

"What was the disagreement over?"

Silence. Morning Star stared at his hands, pulling his fingers slowly into fists. He didn't really want to tell Sterling, didn't want to air out his dirty laundry with Magnotris. But there wasn't really anyone else he could talk to, was there? At best he could call Nebulous Star, and well... that sounded like an absurdly horrible idea. Yeah, let him tell his selfish dick of a sibling all about his relationship issues. Hour Star would never let him live it down.

"...Hello?"

He sighed and glanced back up, drawing knees close to chest. "Just like. Doing stuff without permission, I guess. I told him it was creepy, what he was doing, and he said he was sorry, but that he needed to do it. I said he could've just asked me, instead of like, taking without my permission. He got all mad and said it wouldn't have made a difference, just made it longer for him. I said my agency mattered to me and - he was just getting angrier, so I went home for a bit to cool off. I haven't said anything to him since and turned off my cellie."

Infodumping about it all, even vaguely, lifted something out of Morning Star's chest. It felt good to talk about. 

Sterling stared into the pile for a second before speaking, slow and deliberate, "so you got upset with him for what you just told me?"

"What?"

"You said it's worth it to have people get mad at you sometimes if you do the right thing in the end."

Morning Star's cheeks tinged red. "W-well. I mean, yeah, I guess. But this is different. I think, at least."

"How so?"

"Like... well, you making yourself a friend doesn't hurt anyone, right? You'll just live together in your mansion, in your pocket Timeline - it makes your world a better place. But it was hurting me...." even as he spoke, Morning Star could see the way his own logic twisted over itself.

"So the right thing should never hurt anyone, ever?"

"I don't know," he admitted. "I'm not a philosopher, I don't think about this all the time."

"Then how do you know that helping me is the right thing?"

Morning Star rested his chin on his knees. "Because I'm helping you be happier, and live a better life, and that makes it worth it to me. I like making people happy... in any way I can."

They were silent for a few seconds.

"I should go talk to Magnotris about this, anyways," Morning Star remarked, quietly. "I still don't think it was right of him to do stuff to me without my permission, even if it helped people. But I'll... give him some slack, I guess."

Sterling reached forwards, hand ghosting over Morning Star's shoulder. The two tensed as the same realization hit them.

"...Can I touch you?" Sterling finally managed, tilting his head, frowning.

"I don't know," Morning Star whispered. "But it can't hurt to try, right?"

Neither dared to breathe as Sterling slowly lowered his hand, gently setting his palm on Morning Star's shoulder. When no explosion occurred, he slowly curled his fingers around, cupping the other in a comforting motion. He patted once, twice, a slow smile spreading over his face.

In an instant, Sterling tackled Morning Star, wrapped arms around his shoulders in a hug. The lower arms found their way around his waist, and Morning Star yelped as he bowled over. After blinking and registering what had happened, he wrapped his arms around Sterling as well, holding the other close for a few seconds.

"We'll come back here to find more gold, right?" Sterling asked, voice high.

"Of course," Morning Star, whispered, squeezing the other tightly. 

"Okay." Sterling pulled away, wiping at his eyes hurriedly, before Morning Star could see the tears. "Okay. Are you gonna go talk to Mag... Magnotris now?"

He patted Sterling's shoulder. "I probably should, I don't want to leave him to his devices for too long. But I'll come back, okay? I promise."

"Okay," Sterling whispered.

Morning Star pried his cellie from his pocket, turning it on. No new messages. Something stabbed in his heart, tiny and small, but he shook it off, unlocking and opening the chatting app.

Fingers lingered over the keyboard as he thought the message through. Quietly, he tapped out the smallest message.

'Hey. Meet me in the lab in a few?'