Reborn as Error

75 - Refresh pt.2

I spent a good chunk of the next hour teasing Blue. Dangling the idea of knowledge that he should probably not know. He was strong those and never caved even seeing through my attempts and laughing along. That hour was just us returning to the house and putting away what was bought.  Then this was said as Blue was putting away a box of pasta.

"Well even if there are other me's that I don't know about I'm the best one! No one is a better me than me after all!" I unintentionally went mute as I put away some vegetables thinking about what he said. I never really mentioned it but when I first saw Blue, back when I was hiding Nightmare in Sci's house, I was a bit nervous. I had no idea which Blue I was looking at and wouldn't know until he talked. 

To my luck it was a Blue that I was familiar with and liked. I have no idea what would happen if it was the overly innocent cutesy one. I think I would've 'accidentally' deleted their au if it was. He didn't show off any other worrying signs but I was still wary at the time he was there. 

Now though, I wasn't too concerned that he would suddenly stab me when I'm not paying attention.

"Error?" I heard really close to my right and saw Blue's concerned expression. 

"Yeah?" 

"You went all quiet."

"Oh, sorry. But yeah, you're not that bad compared to the other yous out there. Viper is a close second." I added that last part to distract him and it worked since he just beamed, pride rolling off him in waves. Very quickly we finished up and I headed off to check up on Gradient. Last I saw he was upstairs.

On my way to the stairs I noticed something that was missing and decided to come back to it later when I was done. Up I went and the first place I looked was Sci's room since Gradient was either with the gang or with Sci and Paps. No skeletons there. 

Next I checked my shared room and found Gradient along with Paps. They were both just sitting on the floor, Gradient was drawing while Paps was playing with his toy cars. Gradient perked up when he saw me walk over and scooted closer when I sat down on the floor. 

"What are you two up to?" I asked mainly just curious.

"Oh! Hi Error, we're just hanging out here," Paps answered in a cheerful tone. 

"Ah, is Sci downstairs again?"

"Yep," Paps didn't seem bothered with Sci being away. But then again he knows his brother is still in the house. I felt a tug at my side and looked at Gradient.

"What's up kid?"

"Fresh came by earlier... he said me and you are doing something later?" I looked confused for a moment before remembering what happened earlier.

"Oh yeah, he asked if I was free later. I don't know what he's planning. But, I trust it's nothing bad. He hasn't given me a reason to not trust him, directly anyways."

"So... when?" 

"I have no clue." 

I pretty much stayed with Gradient as the day dragged on. Paps returned to Sci when lunch rolled by and I've been reading with Gradient. Not to him, with him. I know I haven't been a top tier teacher so one of the others, or multiple, have been teaching Gradient when I'm occupied. My bet on reading is Nightmare. 

Only when the sun was setting did Fresh decide to pop up. Literally. In a blast of color he just showed up effectively startling us.

"Whoa! My B, didn't mean to scared the little brah!" He said with his usual smile. I groaned and got up to my feet. 

"You're lucky I can't do anything to you." 

"You can but that's besides the point. Come on," he waved his hand as he left the room and we really had no choice but to follow. When we reached the bottom step I remembered that something was missing. 

"Hey has anyone-" 

"Seen your jacket? Yep, Papyrus classic snatched it earlier to put it in the wash." Fresh stuck his gloved hands into his pockets looking unbothered.

"And you know this... how?" 

"Not important." He stepped around and started heading for the back which I wasn't expecting. The three of us headed outside and walked on. Past the garden, past the rock, past the sparing area, and into the trees. 

"So how was ya'lls day? I bet you were supes boring without me around." He was trying to distract.

"It was peaceful," I said bluntly ignoring his over exaggerated hurtful expression. Gradient giggled so that's a plus for me. 

"By the way, the others will be joining us but I wanted you guys to see this first," Fresh said as he stopped in front of an open field. 

"Wow... flowers.... what a surprise." I said not looking all that impressed. I don't get why we were here and the sky was only getting darker.

"Brah relax, I didn't bring you here for just a field." Fresh seemed pretty excited as the last of the sun's rays started to dip.

"Little brah, come here." Fresh squatted down and gestured Gradient over to him. He looked unsure but walked over and went down next to the colorful menace. They were whispering and Fresh keep pointing out to the field. I started to look around feeling that I should be on guard since the area was so open.

I was immediately ripped from those thoughts when I heard Gradient gasp in excitement and saw him moving forward away from Fresh. I walked closer.

"Fresh-"

"Shh... wait." He said never taking his eye sockets off of Gradient. I saw my child pause while peering into some grass before his hands cupped something. He peeked into his hands before rushing back with a goofy grin.

"I did it!"

"Good job little brah."

"What did you do?" I asked really curious about what had him so joyful. He scooted up to me and opened his hands. Sitting there was a little bug. For a second I thought Gradient had entered a bug catching phase but watched in awe as it lit up and flew out of his hands. It was then I noticed the many many many fireflies that were showing themselves now that it was darker. 

They looked like little stars that were spread among the greenery. Gradient ran ahead as Fresh stood up and gestured me to follow. 

"I didn't want to spoil anything since I had an amazing idea. The others will be here and we're going to spend the night here. Not like sleeping and all the jazz but we're going to have like the best dinner picnic out here. We've been here for a bit but I bet no one has taken the time to stop, breathe, and look up." He pointed up and I noticed the star that were coming through. There were so much more than there were when I was in the city already. 

".....this is so nice. But you know I've seen Outertale right?"

"Of course my fine broski but I bet you haven't watched the stars with others." I can't remember if I have honestly. I remember just going to Outertale when I needed a moment to myself and was so overwhelmed with the beauty of the sky. 

"I got another one!"

"Good job!" Fresh said as he went to Gradient. I stayed in place observing the lightning bugs that flew around. I've never seen them so close before. 

How pretty.