#farmnomaly

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It was a good thing monsters had way better vision in the dark than humans did. He could actually see where he was going - unlike you. Even with your status as an anomaly, the reality you watched over wasn’t kind enough to give you enough sight to see the foliage that Saejun had to jump over to get to your vessel. It took him very off guard at first, especially since so many of the plants around you looked... very out of place. 

Some of them weren’t supposed to bloom until much later - or should have already wilted away by now - or just weren’t supposed to be growing in this sort of region... But they all clung to you - some of them hugging the post that held you upward. Others were wrapped around the scarecrow’s arms and dangling down from the face... 

The very recognizable forget-me-nots on your vessel’s face broke his heart, and the way that the stitched smile had fallen apart so badly that it frowned, made his own teeth twist into a grimace. From what little the moonlight illuminated, it only caused regret to crawl further up his spine, and he got to work stepping carefully around the thornier guards around your post. 

He pulled the vines off your arms as if he was shrugging off your jacket, prying away the brush as if making way for you to step forward, and plucking the bluebells and forget-me-nots from your face as if he was wiping away your tears... and he took your vessel under the arms and lifted you out of the ground. 

“i’m sorry.” He whispered out, barely audible and only for you to hear. 

“it’s time to go home...” 

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In, under, out, over.  In, under, out, over. 

It was like clockwork to him, and each movement of his hand poured out the affection in his soul. He had already patched up the tears in your vessel’s clothes, the frays in your hat had been woven back together - he would make you a new one soon, and the hay that had fallen out had been replaced with fresh straw. He plucked out the thorns, pulled you off the post, and in this moment, he was sewing new button eyes on your vessel’s face and re-threading the smile that had fallen. 

He wouldn’t let your smile fall like that ever again... 

“SANS?” Papyrus was visiting for the day. He had been so worried when the neighbors called him about his brother running out and driving off in a panic the night before. “UM... ARE YA SURE IT’S A GOOD IDEA TO BE PICKIN’ A SCARECROW OFF THE SIDE OF THE ROAD LIKE THAT?”

He couldn’t help but smile softly at you, “heh, don’ worry about it... it’s not like they- er... it’s a stranger ‘r nothin’... i left ‘em out there. ain’t leavin’ them again. felt bad about... abandonin’ it there...” 

“I SEE...” He let out a hum, obviously a little unsure about his brother’s words - let alone the look on his face... Ah... He’d never seen that look on Sans’ face before. “SANS?” He received a simple hum of acknowledgement as he concentrated on sewing the smile back up. “ARE YA IN LOVE WITH SOMEONE?” 

Saejun jolted up in his cushioned rocking chair - pricking his finger as he winced and green magic began to dust his cheekbones. “w-what?? p-paps, wha-” He laughed nervously, a string of ‘heheheh’s flowing from his teeth that only caused the Papyrus to narrow his eye sockets at his brother. “what’s got ya thinkin’ like that?” 

“YOUR FACE!” He spoke like it was the most obvious thing – something that he himself should be aware of, “YA’VE PRACTICALLY GOT HEARTS IN YOUR EYELIGHTS!” He quickly pulled up a seat and scooted it closer to his brother as he leaned in. “TELL ME ABOUT THEM! PLEASE! YA CAN TELL ME, I WON’ TELL A SOUL!” Yes, he would. He totally would. He would shout it from the rooftops if Saejun let him.

The Sans only chuckled, shaking his head with that blush not leaving his cheekbones. “don’ worry ‘bout it, paps.” He said, resuming his sewing, only to tie the knot on your smile and finish repairing your grin. “i'm… still sortin’ stuff out, but i'll update ya if there’s anythin’ to update ya ‘bout…” The Papyrus was obviously a little unsatisfied with his brother’s response, but that dreamy, far-off look in Saejun’s eyelights convinced him not to push him. It seemed as though his brother still had some figuring out to do…

“ALRIGHT, FINE! BUT I’M GONNA CHECK IN ON YA EVERY DAY TO MAKE SURE YA DON’ FORGET TO TELL ME!” In other words, he was going to bother his brother daily about his love life if he didn’t keep him updated. Like any annoying younger brother would – but Saejun just grinned up at him.

“heh, i know. see ya, paps.” He waved his brother out as the taller skeleton stood and made his way to the door.

“TAKE CARE, BROTHER! AND DON’ GO RUNNIN’ OFF IN THE MIDDLE O’ THE NIGHT AGAIN!” Papyrus teased before closing the door behind him.

It was only after he heard the other’s truck pull out of the driveway that he began to speak to himself or perhaps to you. “heh… don’ worry, paps… everythin’ i need is right here.” He caressed your vessel’s cheek affectionately, “so i won’ be runnin’ around much anymore.”

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“heh, there ya go… good as new.” He muttered, his affection rolling through his words as he set you up on a shorter post in his kitchen. “and you’re here too – perfect timin’.” He chuckled. He seemed… happier. The bags under his eye sockets had lessened, even if it was just a fraction. It was an improvement. His grin was genuine and wide and happy to see you…

“보고 싶었어, 여보.”

With the warmth he spoke those simple foreign words, you could feel your soul flutter – and he chuckled.

“it’s good to see ya again…” His expression fell a little bit, “i… i thought ya left us fer good…”

“…”

“it kinda fell apart after ya left…” He held your vessel steady by its midsection. “someone else took over frisk… they ruined the harvests for years, ran us outta town… we settled down here. it wasn’t good, but… it’s not bad here.”

You could see the little connecting ribbon wrapped tightly around his wrist again. Like he was afraid to lose it this time. “paps is a carpenter in town. and i've been workin’ in a flower shop with asgore. heh, ever since ya pretty much forced my hand, i’ve gotten pretty good at growin’ ‘em…” His smile came back in full force. “the opportunity presented itself, so i rose to the occasion.”

He laughed to himself, but he could feel the joy in your soul bubble up.

“… it’s good to have ya back.”

“🎵 someday, somewhere, somehow…” He began singing, taking you off-guard for a moment – you’ve heard him hum occasionally from the kitchen window or when he tended to his garden… but he’s never sang in front of you… let alone for you. “you’ll love again. 🎶”

And then his feet began to move, “🎵 ya just need to find someone.” Taking one of your vessel’s arms, he pulled you into a dance position and spun the two of you around the kitchen floor, that soft green flush on his cheekbones.

“someday, somewhere, somehow. you’ll love again, you just need to find someone~. 🎶” He held you close, staring past button eyes and into human irises that weren’t quite there… but he could feel your eyes on him.

“🎵 someone who treats you better, someone who wants you around.” He swayed side to side, shuffling his socked feet across the floor, refusing to feel silly for dancing with a short scarecrow in his kitchen, because someone much more important was with him.

“someday, somewhere, somehow, you’re gonna feel found… 🎶” He paused, not realizing how much energy it took to sing, dance, and fight down his blush as he prepared himself for the last line.

“🎶 today, right here, right now, i already feel found… 🎵” He twirled your vessel one last time before magic flooded your vessel, his intent thinning the glass separating the two of you…

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But… it… wasn’t enough.

He tried… He really did… But he couldn’t find you.

He couldn’t reach you. Not in the way he so desperately wanted to.

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“i'm sorry, 여보.”

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*You told him that he didn’t need to apologize.

He jolted up, quickly pushing your vessel out to arms reach as he stared at the scarecrow with wide eye sockets and pinprick eyelights. “w-wait what??”

*Wait… He could hear you!?

“yes!” He answered immediately before dewy magic began to crowd the corners of his eye sockets. “oh stars, yes!” He laughed triumphantly. “yes, i can hear you!” Tears of relief flew down his skull as he pulled your plush vessel closer. “i found ya, 애인.”

He nuzzled your vessel’s inanimate head affectionately – desperately stuffing his skull in it as he whispered sweet nothings in Korean for who knows how long. “oh stars – ok – okay, before i forget!” He took a few deep breaths before he held your vessel out for him to look at again.

“사랑해, 해바라기.” He was more sure of himself in his words than you’ve ever seen him before… “i love you, sunflower.” His eyelights softened. “i have fer a long, long time… ”

*You told him that you love him too.

He couldn’t help but grin – it wasn’t cheeky or relieved or anything, but “i know… i know, you do, 백일초.” Otherwise, why would you have stuck around this long right?

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It’s the spring season! You know what that means, right? Flowers, the most beautiful of blooms. And since your scarecrow vessel had no nose, not even allergies could stop you from enjoying the colorful sprouts and baby animals and smiling faces of tourists. That’s right, tourists. With Asgore as mayor, it’s not impossible that he’d be glad to host the Competition of Gardens every other year. So, with the event came the tourists excited to see the sight of petals flying about everywhere and exotic or local flowers decorating just about every street of the little rural town and its fresh produce. Both of which were thriving thanks to your presence.

Saejun and his brother were definitely busy lately. With the influx of customers, they needed to restock their vegetable and fruit stand at the farmers’ market a lot more often and were running back and forth between their stock and the booth. Although they luckily weren’t running out of stock any time soon. With your presence boosting their crop’s output and the magic in the soil, their produce were practically chock full of magic – which meant rotting was almost completely unlikely – and that they had a lot to sell. It did their finances wonders – but you could see that Saejun was getting less and less breaks between all the work.

You wanted to try and help him where you could… The occasional tree dropping its ripest fruit for him to take and maybe munch on – but he only chuckled and shook his head, instead taking it to give to someone else. You would lessen crop drops for a day or redirect some tourists, but no matter what you did to give Saejun a break, he just kept working by his brother’s side. Damn this stubborn skeleton! Why couldn’t he be lazy when he needs it for once?

It's alright, you couldn’t do much, but at least you could look out for him, right? Keep the crows at bay and the bad omens hovering overhead out of the way… but this? What would you consider this..? If you could ward of both but not this – then would this be nothing but a good thing for the skeleton with your affections?

“heh, aw shucks, thanks.” The Sans’ grin was wide and he pulled gently at the brim of his hat to lower with the hand that had your ribbon tied on it in hopes to hide his bashful grin. “i’m no sight for sore eyes or nothin’ though.” He held the little bouquet of rainbow roses that the enthusiastic tourist had given him in one hand, unsure of what to do with such an extravagant gift. 

“What?! No way! You totally are! And you’re so sweet on top of it too!” One of the tourists insisted. They were a group of three – and looked like they were on a road trip if the pins and keychains decorating their bags said anything. “Is there a Mrs. Serif?”

One of their friends gasped and slapped their arm while giggling for their far too forward attempt at flirting with Saejun, but they didn’t back down, coming to lean against the stand’s surface and get a closer look to try and see his coloring cheekbones – but loosening smile.

“ah – no, i ain’t a married man or nothin’.” Despite that he could feel your presence flaring up and the feeling of your ever-present eyes on his back, he cleared his throat and collected himself. “been thinkin’ about lookin’ for someone to keep the house a little cozier though.”

The tourist’s grin widened twice as big, and they rummaged through their bags’ pockets excitedly for a moment before they pulled out a pen and paper and scribbled numbers on the lined page. “Welllll, we’ll be in town for a few more days…” They were obviously trying to contain their excitement. “We could meet up for drinks and get to know each other a little more if you want.” They ripped the paper out and held it out to him. “Call me.”

Who knows what he was thinking, but Saejun took the paper, and winked at the tourist for good measure. “sure thing, sunshine, will do.” All his earlier embarrassment from being taken off guard by their advances had seemed to have washed away – and as he waved the group away, he could feel your omniscient presence prickling against his spine.

Well… someone was watching awfully closely, weren’t they?

He turned around only to see his brother hovering over him with an intense gaze - although despite all the stares he’s received from him in years prior, he really couldn’t figure out if this staring was the excited type or the bad type... 

“SANS?” The Papyrus’ gloved hand came up to his chin and he rubbed it thoughtfully as he narrowed his eye sockets at his brother. “DOES THAT MEAN YOU’LL BE GOING ON A DATE TONIGHT..?” 

“uh...” Well, being put on the spot by two intense stares was definitely a little unnerving. “probably, yeah, why?” 

I suppose the only difference was that Papyrus was more than willing to see his brother take a break for once this week though. “OH THANK GOODNESS, GO GET SOME DRINKS WITH THEM AND GET A DECENT NIGHT’S REST!” He let out a relieved ‘Nyeh-heh-heh’ and patted his brother on the back a few times before walking away, leaving him with the ever-present, faceless ‘deity’ who was practically breathing down his neck with their heavy presence. 

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Well, the day was uneventful from that moment on, but you were pretty sure it was because you were watching Saejun’s every movement. It was as if he was avoiding some of the more boisterous tourist groups now... your presence was heavy on his shoulders, and he was feeling tired already... but, well... not tired enough to not talk to you this evening, thankfully. 

He huffed and pulled up a chair beside the garden your vessel was set up in, pulling at the collar of his date clothes. “mm, i dunno if i should have taken paps advice with the date clothes, heh. i mean - it’s not like it’ll be anythin’ real serious right?” He muttered absentmindedly. “it’ll be a spring fling at most, probably..?” He pulled off his hat for a moment turning his gaze back at your vessel’s button eyes. 

“ya’know... you were awfully heavy today. i noticed you floatin’ around once the contest was announced. you were probably helpin’ with the flowers and flow of tourists and whatnot... thanks for tryin’ to help.” He was being genuine, but... “heh, it’s almost like you’re jealous.” He grinned up at you. “eh, i dunno how it is wherever you are. dunno if you’re bored or not or if lookin’ after us is your job or anything, really.” His smile turned smug as he leaned on the palm of his hand, his elbow propped up against the chair’s arm. “it’s almost like you’re tryin’ to be part of our world or want to hang out with me instead of those tourists, heh...” 

He trailed off quickly, his gaze turning away from you as his expression contorted into one you’d never seen before... That faraway look in his eye lights was... new. “but ‘s probably just my imagination...” He muttered. “you’re... probably a god or somethin’, what would you have to be envious of?” Why would you want to spend more time with him than you’d have to? 

He stood up eventually, placing his hat back on his head and adjusting the collar of his button-down as he stuck a sweet grass stem between his teeth to chew on thoughtfully. “ah - wait...” He paused to rummage through his inventory for a moment, conjuring a little green stem between his phalanges. “ya’know... with all those exotic flowers around, i thought, maybe today ya’d like somethin’ a little more simple.” 

Instead of reaching for your hat, he placed the little ring of white clovers he’d woven around the sticks that served as your hand. “’s not much, i know...” He huffed in mild amusement. “’n any case, wish me luck on this date or somethin’... i got no idea how this is gonna go.” 

And he left you alone again... 

Wishing that he’d stay and talk with you just a while longer... 

Wishing that he knew that the little ring of white clovers around your hand was worth much more sentiment than he meant them to... 

Wishing that you could act on the blooming love in your hay-filled chest. 

But no... here you are, staring through a screen at his abstract world again... 

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You thought that was it. He would just… take you to see the townsfolk and the world around him with the little ribbon on his wrist (sometimes on his humerus if it was likely to get dirty while he worked). You thought he would just live his life as is without sparing you another glance… but you found him doing a lot more with you in mind than you expected. First it was just one wildflower. He placed it in between the ribbon and your hat – and every other day he would add one more or take out one of the wilting ones – and you felt your heart soar every single time.

He would talk to you in the evenings – or in the mornings – or whenever he had time… He treated you like a friend, and you wondered if there were times or days where he would talk to you even when you weren’t “conscious”… when you were busy or otherwise occupied on your side of the screen. You wondered if he told anyone about you when you weren’t paying attention, but from the way everyone acted, you didn’t think he did… But something curious was coming up recently…

“heh, these are lovely. thank ya kindly, mayor asgore.” You watched as Saejun accepted the basket of flowers straight from the Asgore’s prized garden, and you could see the stupidly large grin on his face too as he stared at the basket…

“Ohoho!” Asgore laughed with a bright grin and a teasing look in his eyes. “You look very excited about those flowers, Sans… Say, you wouldn’t happen to have someone in mind when you look at them, would you? A… lover, perhaps?”

The Sans’ eye socket’s went twice as wide, and he used the hand with the ribbon on it to pull his hat down a little to shade his face – you couldn’t see his expression well from this angle, damn it! – but… you swore that you saw a little hint of spring green on his cheek bones… you swear it… (hopefully…)

“heh! ah – heheheh!” He chuckled nervously as he shook his skull. “no, no, not a lover ‘er… er anythin’ like that, heheh…” He shifted the basket into a tighter grip as he held it with one arm, cradling it like a precious gift. “it’s just – uh… you know… somethin’ to brighten up my garden with… i brought one of my scarecrows into the small vegetable garden i got growin’ in the back and it’s lookin’ a little sparse, so-“

“Oh! Flowers for a scarecrow..?” Asgore tapped his chin thoughtfully as he nodded. “I see… I heard someone – a visitor from the city once said that gifts for a scarecrow tend to bring good luck! Anything except shiny things – since those just attract more crows… Hopefully it’s true, hahah! Does your scarecrow like flowers?” What he said wasn’t true, and they both knew it, but you couldn’t see Sans’ expression from where his hand was either. You were looking at him from above – and his hat was still blocking his face! He wouldn’t put his hand down!!!

“uh… heh, well… i sure hope so…”

Asgore nodded, as if he understood. “Yes, yes, well… flowers are usually always a good gift! And scarecrows don’t have noses, so they shouldn’t have allergies!... and even though flowers are temporary, it’s the sentiment that means most with gifts, is it not?” He smiled wider as he saw Sans’ expression change. “Here, why don’t you take a flower box for your garden?”

“w-what?? oh – oh no, it’s alright, thank ya, asgore, but i couldn’t, reall-“ He couldn’t finish his polite refusal before Asgore was already sifting through his extra gardening supplies and shoving a flower box into his arms. “oh gosh…”

The goat monster let out a hearty laugh, “It’s not much, just an extra one I had, but it should do nicely! It’ll prove as a nice view for both you and your scarecrow friend! It’s small enough to fit on your windowsill, right?”

“yeah… yeah, it should fit nicely… thank ya, mayor.” He finally let his hand to fall to his side so you could see the soft, gentle, and grateful smile on his skull.

“Of course! And make sure to tell me what type of flowers it grows, alright? I’ll see you again soon, Sans!” And he waved your skeleton off with a grin… leaving you with a fond feeling in your soul as you saw the affectionate smile fall back onto Saejun’s face as he stared at the items in his arms.

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“you probably already know this, but i got you – us? – a little somethin’, heh… kinda against my will, but at least it’ll be a nice addition to the scenery you’re defaulted to, right?” Saejun had opened up his kitchen windowsill up and was talking to you through it – you weren’t far from it, actually you could see his and sometimes Papyrus’ shenanigans inside the kitchen if you squinted.

He placed the flowerbox filled with dirt on the windowsill, and you watched as he scratched his jaw nervously. “uh… to be honest, i’m not too sure what flowers to fill it with… ‘specially since i ain’t too well versed in ‘em. fruits and vegetables, sure, but not these… i'll probably have ta’ ask asgore for tips… ‘til then, i guess… enjoy the flower crown.”

He leaned on the windowsill edge with his elbow propped up and leaning his skull into his hand so you could clearly see the array of white flowers he had gotten from Asgore were woven together to make a flower crown – the stems that stuck out were perfectly pressed into your hat so they would stay still – right above the ribbon…

And when you looked at him… He wore an affectionate grin and sparkling green eyelights, whether he knew it or not.

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Huh… well, neither of you were expecting this. You had come to check up on him this morning, and… after three days of not knowing what to plant – flowers had already begun to sprout in the flowerbox. He didn’t plant any seeds in the box yet – and he actually asked you if you knew anything about it. Although, even if you did, you wouldn’t exactly be able to answer him. A week later and they were in full bloom…

“zinnias…” He muttered as he stared at the blossoming array of colorful petals. He let out a bark of laughter and turned his attention back to your direction as he looked outside the open window and leaned forward. “now this has got to be ya, right? i mean – hell, didn’t even know ya spoke Korean.” He was joking, of course – he had no idea if you did or didn’t or if this was just a coincidence or whatever - … but maybe that light green blush on his cheekbones while he giggled over the ‘coincidence’ negated all of those little details…

“well, zinnias it is, i guess… since ya planted ‘em, i'll do my best to take care of ‘em.” And he did. He watered them each and every day for the whole season - … but after a while, even the combination of your ambient, mysterious, anomaly presence and his green magic couldn’t keep them alive forever…

“it’s no reason to sulk.” He would say. “next time i can plant ‘em for ya… but… if ya can, plant whatever flowers ya like in this little box and we’ll take care of ‘em together… and i’ll get seeds for them next time they’re in season so we can do it all over again…”

And you did. Intentionally or not, new flowers grew after a few days every time he plucked out the old ones that your presence had sewn. And every time, he took care of them as the two of your watched them blossom and thrive. Eventually he had gathered the seeds from the flowers you had grown and planted them all around his garden – and if that botanical book in his hands when he sat on the back porch said anything – you guessed he had been asking Asgore for advice about it when you weren’t paying attention too…

Strange, isn’t it? How such a small thing like a flowerbox in a windowsill could be such a strong show of affection…

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Oh...? What’s this?

You’re back? How bold.

Didn’t I tell you that this place isn’t yours to play with anymore?

Sorry. Someone’s… replaced you. 

What? Are you surprised? Why? You’re an anomaly. There’s always another one who’s willing to take your place when you’ve gotten bored of this world. 

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... 

You won’t leave? Well, we can’t have two anomalies playing with the world at the same time, can we? Too many characters would take notice. 

But I suppose, if you won’t leave... You can watch. 

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It’s... not a pretty picture. No, definitely not. Granted, you didn’t know what to expect from a Farmtale genocide route - or did you? - but this was just... disheartening. The once green fields and infinite pastures you so meticulously cared for had been overturned into buildings or dry, yellowing grasslands. 

A hot spring. They replaced the slow, homey, peaceful farms with a hot spring resort. It was flooding with noise, foot traffic, and tourists... None of which seemed recognizable, ironically. How lovely. Even the flowers were replaced with plastic ones that wouldn’t wilt. At least your neglect couldn’t fuck those up. 

What of the characters you loved? Well, neither hide nor hair of any of them appeared when your disembodied eyes scraped through every nook and cranny of the new environment. The only one you recognized was Frisk... Who was... strangely in a little business suit. Definitely weird, but you wouldn’t question it, you supposed. After all, the name of the anomaly was plastered on the resort’s sign out front. Which speaks volumes as it is.

Wait... Disembodied? What... What happened to your vessel? 

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You left... 

You really abandoned them... 

He begged and begged for you to come back, but you never did... He had a feeling you never would - and yet - and yet... He still placed a flower in your hat every day. He still came to greet you every evening. He began to plant flowers in the flowerbox you two once shared since no new ones would grow... He even began to build that shrine he promised you - but he didn’t get far. 

With you gone, another anomaly took over. They used Frisk as a vessel, possessing the child and causing havoc, and the Sans could do nothing but watch his friends and family’s futile attempts at scraping by and keeping their farms and small businesses alive. 

They were run out of town by the same type of being that had helped their lives flourish... 

... 

He was so stupid.

He was an idiot to think you would keep them safe forever. To think he... he trusted you. To think he enjoyed your company. To think he gave into the delusion that something more powerful than him would care for something so much more trivial like a mortal’s life. 

He clutched the freshly plucked roses in his ungloved hands, their jagged thorns scratching the surface of his boney metacarpals as his phalanges trembled. This was the last time he’d be picking flowers from this garden before they were to be forced to move... 

one more... Just one more - a hybrid of color - an almost tie-dye of red and yellow that refused to mix into orange. The rose trembled in the May breeze as he hesitated to pick it. For the first time in the months that the two of you had been planting flowers together, he wondered what it meant. 

But eventually he broke the stem off from the bush, turning back around to your old vessel, still clean but obviously worn down... Your vitality had left from it and... and the magic from the ribbons had worn off. Without something to tie down, the intent behind the magic dissipated, and even the one he wore around his wrist had faded in color. Both had signs of you taking your leave from this world. 

He didn’t say anything, just placing the dual colored rose on your old vessel’s jacket pocket before leaving silently... 

In a few days, he would pick your vessel up, place it in the back of his rusty old pickup truck, and drive to a field of green grass in the middle of a ring of trees... And stick you firmly into the ground. Plucking all of the flowers that had wilted out of the vessel and discarding them carelessly on the floor. 

He hesitated to take the ribbon on his arm off... His phalanges twitching as they ghosted over the edge of the ribbon as he fought his internal battle. “fer fuck’s sake, why’d ya have to leave...” He whispered out, frustrated green tears on the corners of his eye sockets that refused to fall as he finally untied the ribbon from his wrist and tied it around the scarecrow’s post. “if ya wanted to leave so badly, you should’ve done it before i...” Before he what? 

He didn’t finish... He just turned around and left, brushing off the feeling of something familiar shoving itself into their narrative again. 

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He abandoned your vessel in a random field - all alone and fading away from the world - and you could do nothing but watch as he turned his back on you the same way you had done before. 

Wait. 

Come back. 

Come back!

You’re not gone! You came back! You - you couldn’t stay away! He was here, how could you stay away!? 

... 

But the ribbons were here. Your vessel was here. Your flowers were here. If there was anywhere you could futilely call “home”, it would be here. This field of drying grass in the middle of a forest that no one would come to... 

You might be in this world as an anomaly, but you didn’t have a place in it. You nor the one who had replaced you had a place in this world... 

I think. 

So here is where you’ll stay. 

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You can’t keep your sorrow contained forever. Your emotions effect this world, whether you like it or not. Your sadness translates across realities - with poppies and daffodils and chrysanthemums blooming all round you, all year long, over and over again. The season of the bloom didn’t matter when they were being fed the magic of your emotion. The magic and power of your intent. 

Overgrown with hyacinths and hydrangeas and wormwood - more and more foliage began to appear beside your vessel. With no one to keep you company, their reality took pity on you. Plants of all kinds grew in your field, coloring the place in all seasons except the bitter winter... 

And then they began to grow on your old vessel. First climbing up the post, then coiling around the bottoms of the scarecrow - until they reached your vessel’s face. Bluebells and rosemary and forget-me-nots dotted your face and dripped from your chipped button eyes like tears. 

Only those who also couldn’t be perceived would mourn with you. 

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It pricked his soul every night for who knows how many years. The idea of you. His memories of you and your presence - or lack thereof. It hadn’t occurred to him until now, that perhaps that heaviness which he mistook for heartbreak, was actually yours. 

He picked up his keys in the middle of the night and rushed out his front door, still in an old t-shirt and shorts - worn slippers barely holding onto his feet. He just had to double check. His breath was uneven as he fumbled with his keys, trying to start the engine. 

It’s... been so long since he’s felt you... It couldn’t possibly be you.