Karma has a surpsingly nice time in Outertale and even has a nap..so of course things had to go weird again

——-

*^&$@ multiverse

"Who's a pretty little bird? You are! Yes you are!"

Sunny's eye was developing a rather concerning twitch, that he was fully blaming on having to be around such a weird Creator.

"Does someone want a treat? Of course you do!"

That he wasnt able to say anything or he'd blow his cover, only made his mood so much worse, having to just listen to the utter nonsense spewed in a never ending stream. He frankly thought Karma was a saint for dealing with this so well, quietly grumbling when he felt the babybones be picked up without warning.

"How about i get you a cookies? Or what about i make some new stars? Ooo! We could do both!"

...The Creators sense of normal was also greatly skewed but for some weird reason this only amused the babybones. He was in disbelief on how this could be a Creator, them being much far too ignorant on so many matters, even if Karma tried to calmly explain things.

He was still unimpressed with this Creator though, feeling Ink was treating Karma more like a pet then a child at this point.

"Can it be a chocolate chip cookie, Ink?"

"Of course, Goth! We can have all the chocolate you could even dream of. I could even invent a new one!"

He sighed at the fake happiness coming from Ink, hiding further into Karmas scarf to try and block it out. He still wasn't used to the way he sensed emotions off soulless monsters, it making him feel a tad ill and usually having to focus on the babybones emotions in order to calm down.

He was glad that things were at least settling down with Karma, their emotions still erratic but far more stable then they had been months ago.

..he was still in disbelief they had been here this long though, feeling this place was far crazier than the time in the Void despite the lack of unspeakable horrors he had to witness he still had nightmares of the eternal darkness and was unsure if they would ever leave .

All the Bitties were annoyed that they still couldn't reveal themselves and had to stay hidden, all having refused to leave Karma for a second and mainly staying in their scarf.

-

Ink hummed as he drew on his sketch pad that was dedicated to new AU's, his ideas practically flowing for months now!

He held the pad away from him, gazing at his latest masterpiece thoughtfully, unsure what to name it. For some reason 'Horror Swap' was coming to mind, quickly jotting that down before he could forget it.

He turned the page, deciding he would create that later, briefly pausing at the soft snoring now coming from his lap. Without looking away from the blank page, he grabbed a small brush and created a blanket, throwing it over the babybones who was currently laying on his chest.

He wasnt sure how this became a routine between them but found he quite enjoyed sketching while laying on the sofa in the evenings after dinner. It caused his magic to let out the odd rumbling sound whenever they did this, surprised when Karma let out a similar noise in response.

He carefully pat their back, having learned they enjoyed that after much trial and error , making sure they were comfy before going back to his sketch's. He had been creating many more AU's, which was wonderful but he had been far more intrigued by the changes the tiny monsters presence had brought.

It had taken him a while but he finally noticed how his memory didnt seem as terrible as before, remembering past conversations much easier and having to take far less notes then in the past.

He had even managed to read through a whole book, without losing interest half way through!

Truly amazing progress but he also felt it helped a great deal with his interactions with Goth, noticing they hardly flinched away from him now!

Watching stalking other monsters' interacting had also helped greatly, discovering so many new things. He might be a Creator but that didnt mean he knew or remembered everything his lack of SOUL affected quite a few things for him .

He also really enjoyed dressing Goth up, having converted an area in the Doddle Sphere to house the few miles of clothes he had created for them. He was pretty sure he would never forget where the babybones' new 'closet' ever was, as they went there everyday before they went out to explore, so never bothered to write the exact location down on his scarf.

Besides, its not like Goth would ever have to leave his presence, having quickly discerned that they had no family in the multiverse. He still had no clue when he had created them, not often making orphans but he wasn't upset in the slightest by this seeming mistake.

This just meant he got to keep them for longer!

A little buddy to keep him company he would never be alone again.

Ιt was great!

-

Karma was confused when Ink had dropped him off at Outertale, telling him to 'be good' before they just left him without another word.

In the 6 months he had been with them, he had rarely been left alone by himself but he had grown used to Inks constant presence. It's not like he wasn't used to having little time just to himself, as he didn't have much privacy in the first few centuries of his life.

It was only after meeting Oneiro and Traveller that he realised privacy was even an option available for him , still puzzled by this concept but quite liking it in the end.

Giving a quick look to his surroundings and seeing it was empty, he carefully adjusted his scarf so the Bitties could look around. Ink had chosen a bright golden scarf for him to wear today. It matched his white and gold striped jumper with his black trousers, quite liking how bright his whole outfit was. He also really liked the mini stars Ink had added to the majority of his outfits, having put a few of the clothes made for him into his Inventory when Ink wasn't looking.

He doubted they would notice the discrepancies as they seemed oddly obsessed with making him clothes, unsure if they truly expected him to be able to wear all of them.

Not even Traveller had made him that many!

He paused in his thoughts when Azure tugged on his jumper, looking down to be faced with the Bitties rather serious expression, which only confused him further. He thought they would be happy to be without Ink for once, as it now gave them the chance to look around without fear of being spotted.

"YOU WERE DOING IT AGAIN. YOU NEED TO LET GO, KARMA"

Azure said as calmly as he could, trying to hide the worry in his voice as the babybones fuzzy eyelight struggled to focus on him. This was happening far too often for his liking, despite Sunny saying this terrible habit the babybones was exhibiting lately had actually lessened in frequency. He would prefer it didnt happen at all, not for the first time cursing his small size as he just wanted to gather Karma up and hide them from the world.

All the adult monsters around the babybones were useless in his opinion, tugging Karmas jumper harder when he saw their hand clench again, letting out a relieved breath when they finally stopped the self-destructive habit. 

Karma frowned when he noticed the feathers that were in his hands, blankly looking at the magic dripping from his once healthy feathers. He tucked his wings behind him, just noticing the slight sting from his right wing after having pulled his feathers out.

He sighed, knowing Ink wouldn't be happy but he knew they would still help him to fix them. He began to carefully gather everyfeather that he had ripped out, that fell onto the ground and placed them all in his Inventory, not in the mood to sort out his wings right at this moment.

He was going to enjoy his free time without having to hide but more importantly, allow the Bitties to finally stretch their legs. He was still puzzled why his friends hadn't taken up his offer to stay in the Doodle Sphere, feeling it would be much safer for them there in the long run. Especially now that he knew Ink was keen to keep him around, he didnt have to worry about the possibility of not having a safe place to stay, as Ink weirdly seemed to really want to keep him around.

He had thought they would have grown bored of him by now, especially as the Creator was still rather young in the grand scheme of things but shockingly they hadnt. He sometimes felt he would never understand monsters, still finding them confusing to understand despite the years he had lived in this new life.

He crouched down and carefully let the Bitties out of his scarf, after having checked there were no SOULS hiding nearby first, letting his friends explore the AU more freely.

He watched them for a bit before he titled his head up, admiring the stars that constantly littered the perpetual night sky. He truly adored Outertale, the stars a comforting constant despite how wrong everything else was.

"I'm taking this with me!'

"It's a rock, Blot. Why do you even need it?"

"It's shiny and has a slight sheen to it. Why wouldnt i want it?"

"WHERE ARE YOU EVEN GOING TO KEEP IT?"

"Dont stress about the small things, Azure. It will all turn out fine in the end~"

"STOP TRYING TO SOUND MYSTERIOUS AND JUST ADMIT YOU HAVE ZERO IDEA!"

He could see his friends were having fun, so grabbed a blanket from his Inventory and threw it on the ground adding a few pillows as well . He flopped into the pile, nuzzling into the soft fabric, taking a shuddering breath as he thought of how the last few months had gone.

He missed everyone and hoped he could leave soon, unsure what was keeping here.

He spent hours just laying in his comfy pillow nest, at one point bringing out his rainbow bear plushy, minutely relaxing as its magic surrounded him. He let out a stuttery purr as he felt it, his SOUL squeezing in pain at still being unable to feel any of them through the bonds they hadnt left him, it was fine, he would be fine, EvErYtHiNg WaS FiNe- .

He had begun to lightly doze, the Bitties having joined him after tiring themselves out and used his wings to cover his tiny friends. He yawned, idly wondering where Ink had gone as he buried himself further into the pillows. He was so glad he carried all these comfy pillows around, sleepily chirping when his head was rubbed by the Creator.

He was so close to falling asleep but instantly froze when he realised he could sense a SOUL .

This was not Ink!

He wasted little time as he scooped up the sleeping Bitties and quickly hid them, jumping back away from his little nest. His wings flared when he saw Nightmare, the corruption dripping off them still heavy and their flashing eyelight showing they were still in the early stages of corruption.

He knew they still weren't completely safe to be around and he wouldnt dare to risk getting closer with his friends being with him.

" DrEam?..not DreAm. Small chIld? "

He wasnt sure what they were trying to say but as soon as they took a step forward his wings bristled and he did an action that Traveller had tried to install in him for so long.

He threw his bear plushy at the monster and made a run for it, still unable to use portals reliably and hoping he wouldnt be forced to do so scared to end up somewhere so much worse . He felt the ground rumble followed by a loud roar, the magic in the bear which Traveller created for him successfully activated to defend him and gave him plenty of time to escape.

He doubted his toy would kill Nightmare but he would make sure to summon back his bear plushy in a few minutes just in case, only needing a short distraction in order to get as far away from the unstable monster as possible.

-

The good news was that Karma had evaded them and Nightmare hadnt died his role felt far too strong here, the tugging on his SOUL nearly painful but the bad news was that the whole AU had been destroyed.

While he had been running he had bumped into Ink who took one look at his ruffled appearance and the dark aura on the horizon before they, to put it lightly, absolutely lost it.

It was always interesting discovering just how different Creators could be from each other but the possessiveness he observed in them was always present, no matter how mild it was. He wasnt blind to how all his clothes were drenched in Inks magic or how they double checked he always had a scarf when they went out to look at an AU.

This was just another way that Ink showed that side of them, titling his head as he watched Nightmare be violently thrown from the collapsing AU, disappointed when he saw the stars start to sputter out and be replaced by the white of the AntiVoid.

He really hoped Ink remade this place, as it was one of the more relaxing AU's to visit.

It was when the last bit of colour vanished that he thought it best to find Ink, not wanting to try his luck with his portals right now he was so tired and just wanted it all to StOp .

Blot shivered as he eyed the endless white, something deep inside him quivering and wanting to get far away from this place. Having Karmas magic wash over him helped but it wasnt enough, this feeling just as bad as the Void in his opinion.

"-fineitsfineitsfineItSfIiNeitSfinE-"

He stiffened when he heard Inks voice, the unnatural tone making his SOUL race. His entire being froze when he finally saw Ink sitting on the ground, his own eyelights nearly extinguishing at the near soulless gaze of the Creator. He had already dealt with oneCreator like that and the experience had not been pleasant, strangling a whimper when Karma got even closer to them, truly worried about Karmas self preservation.

Why would anyone ever want to get closer to such a creepy monster?!

He wanted to cry when he noticed the ink dripping out the Creators mouth, not bothering to object when Sunny pulled them further into the scarf to hide, wishing he was far away from this terribly confusing place.

Karma wasnt surprised that he was dragged into Inks lap as soon as he got close enough, chirping when Ink held him tight like a teddy bear to their chest. He brushed his wings on Inks' side and curled them around them both, chirping in slight worry when he noticed how Ink did not react in the slightest.

That always got a reaction out of them, as Ink weirdly liked to preen his feathers often and examine the colours of them it was the only normal thing he experienced here and he clung to with a vengeance .

He cautiously nuzzled their chest as the silence persisted, feeling the hands on his back tremble but weirdly nothing else occured. They usually did much more than that, leaning back and examining their expression..or rather the distinct lack of it.

" Goth. Stay here with me. Don't leave.... "

He suppressed a flinch at hearing his old name, it still hurt to be referred to by it especially by this Ink but he had grown used to it that was a lie but its not like he could do anything about it . He did his best to ignore the dark feeling in his SOUL that only grew the longer he stayed in this multiverse, instead focusing on the present and grabbing Inks hand, putting it over their paint vials.

"You are low on paints, Ink. You need to drin-"

" No "

He wasn't terribly surprised by this, simply nodding in acceptance as they cradled him closer, pleased at how much better Ink had gotten at holding him over his stay here.

They sometimes got in 'moods' about consuming their paints when they felt too overwhelmed, so he got comfier in their lap as he expected they would be here for a while until Ink 'felt' like using their paints again.

He didnt particularly mind, letting them do what they wanted as he settled in for another nap. He purred when Ink fed him some magic, soon drifting off to sleep as a hand gently pat his back at least in his dreams he could pretend life was good again.

~~~~~~~~~

Ink: *Proud at how well he looking after the babybones* I did so much research and its all paying off!

Karma: *Giggling in amusement, as its not the strangest thing he has ever experienced* This is kind of fun!

Bitties: *Deeply unimpressed as they listen to Ink treat Karma like some sort of pet*

-

Nightmare: *Standing near Karma and clearly unhinged*

Karma: *Speck of self preservation and common sense finally kicking in, bringing out his toy 🧸* We are running as far as we can and we are going to survive!

Blot: *Confused when Karma throws a bear plushy at Nightmare* What is that supposed to do-

*Bear plushy transforming and easily beating up Nightmare* ୧ʕ•̀ᴥ•́ʔ୨

Azure: *Mind broken at seeing another impossible thing*

Sunny: *Proud of Karma for running away for once but exasperated they didnt use this odd magic earlier*..well, at least its some progress

-

*AU destroyed and falls into AntiVoid*

Ink: *Freaking out and eventually staring soullessly at Karma* Come here, Goth ꒪ཀ꒪

Bitties: *Begging Karma not to go near the currently unsettling Creator*

Karma: *Already next to Ink and now happily being cuddled by them, looking ready for a nap*

Sunny: *Sighing deeply at Karmas faulty self-preservation*...And i thought we were finally making some good progress on that