My Friend Over the Phone

Chapter 13 - Two Steps Back

  Blue sighed, quickly silencing his alarm on his phone as he got up from his bed. He had to be quick, or he'd second-guess himself. Again.

    He wandered around his room with his backpack slung over his shoulder, triple-checking he had everything that he wanted to take with him. The bag was currently full of small things, like his journal, his star lights, and the dolls Error gave him for his birthday, as well as the essentials, like his phone and his wallet. His favourite blanket and pillow was also tucked into his inventory so he'd have something to sleep on, in case he couldn't find a remote place to stay the night.

    He tiptoed past his brother's room and down the stairs, reaching into the fridge to grab the food he made in preparation for his departure. It was about four days' worth of rations, along with a few of his favourite baked goods. He glanced around the house he grew up in one last time, and the positive memories he had here with his brother, before everything... they couldn't help but replay in his mind. His gaze locked onto his brother's bedroom door, mirroring the flight of carpeted stairs.

    Maybe he should...

    No. This shouldn't be his problem anymore. Ink and Error both made that much clear.

    He reached towards the doorknob, only hesitating for a second before opening the door to the snowy landscape outside. He stepped out, the cool air greeting him in a comforting embrace. He shut the door behind him.

    He shouldn't need to worry anymore. This was a step forward.

    He pulled out his phone as he walked down the path to the ruins, figuring that no one would see him there. He stepped through a portal to the Multiverse Plaza, not paying attention to his lively surroundings as he stared at his lock screen, his usual loud and bright personality a distant memory for the moment.

    The Plaza was always lively. It was a large floating island created by Ink in the center of the Multiverse, holding many winding cobblestone streets filled with businesses, from retail stores to hotels to restaurants, as well as a suburban housing area on the outskirts of the terrain. The people that lived here were largely Outcodes, most of which are reset or genocide timeline survivors, but there was also a notable population of those who surfaced from violent or fallen Universes who moved here looking for a better life. There were also a small few that simply fell in love with the Multiverse, and decided to leave their subjectively mediocre lives behind them.

    Blue spends a lot of his time here while he's on duty for the Stars, making sure crime is being regulated and overlooking treaties being made between Universes to make sure no unneeded violence breaks out. But, he also runs around the Plaza and other popular tourist sites in the Multiverse, making sure nobody is lost in the mishmash of complicated directions and winding rocky paths. It's a job he takes great pride in, and working as a mediator for peace has led him to meet many wonderful people who he'd usually greet on the roads, but right now, he was too distracted. He was trying to figure out where to go from here.

    There was a lot of people on the streets tonight. A good number of them were stumbling around aimlessly, skulls flushed and the smell of alcohol permeating the air around them, and most of the rest Blue could see leaving the strip club run by different Underlust neutral and genocide timeline survivors with glitter covering their clothes and big smiles on their faces. They waved at Blue, but the skeleton couldn't find it in him to wave back, so he just awkwardly smiled at them instead. They shrugged and moved on, not giving the Star Sans a second thought.

    Blue stumbled his way to the West outskirts of the Plaza, which was a sizeable park. There were currently close ice cream and hot cat stands scattered about, as well as a few well-placed ponds and overly complicated fountains, but as Blue beelined further into it, he came across a field blanketed in soft, green grass, with a few star flowers decorating it with splashes of purple and blue. Exhausted, he collapsed close to the edge of the large island, letting out a long sigh as the damp grass hit his back. Not having the spare energy to unroll his sleeping bag, he passes out.