Karma is recovering and being around monsters who care is only helping that progress

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The continuation of the collaboration with Firehedgehog 😸

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Between Omniverses

Hearth felt rather over stressed, his body was used to two SOULS merged as they were not three so he felt ill.

Its was why he needed to seal the island, he himself would be deep sleeping during this time. He made sure Sora knew he'd be unable to leave the bitty room then set everything up.

Soon enough his body fell into a deep sleep.

Mental Landscape

Karma was still napping with Goth and Palette in Hearths mindscape, his mind requiring the break to recover from all the time spent having FATES sole attention for so long.

"Well, we have all the time we need now" Palette said nuzzling Karma, Goth smiled.

"I know, when he's ready we'll ask what he wants done with 404 and the other SOULS we grabbed his SOUL tagged" Goth hummed.

"Now though, it's time to nap while our body naps" Palette giggled, and the two of them joined Karma asleep.

------

Karma did steadily improve as the years passed in the mindscape, able to stay awake for longer periods of time with his mind healing to an ever stronger state then it had been in literal centuries.

It had been longer then that, FATE'S role in his life starting when he first started the whole cycle of rebirth and death, his mind greatly affected by the Deities personal interference in his existence.

The rest was very much needed for the eternal babybones..even if he kept referring to his stay here as 'waiting to be born again, when the pregnancy was done' to the utter mortification of Goth and Palette.

He was currently sitting in Palettes lap and listening to them talk about art while scribbling in a sketchbook, enjoying the time spent getting to know the two halves of Hearth better.

Palette smiled and leaned down and nuzzled Karma, he was enjoying this. While this was in his mind, all of it was real. Mind you, while the artwork and things he would preserve in their castle of their mind, he knew Karma was planning to recreate many of his masterpieces.

And likely ask of them as Hearth, could make the tent inside and out look like the castle.

He might try, a bit tired of the cottage setting he'd had it for years before FATE made her last fatal mistake of taking their soulchild.

He could do without the pregnancy remarks, Oneiro would get weird ideas from them he just knew.

A snort escaped him at the thought of Oneiro, knowing that the man would likely move in properly after this to be a full time roommate when no one was wandering. He liked having a friend nearby, even if he did drive Oneiro into a worried state that he'd steal Karma all for themselves.

They'd never do that!

Maybe... as long as Oneiro's mental health continued improving he wouldn't act. Goth traded looks with him, knowing his thought processes way too well.

Karma looked up with a cute chirp, looking so much like a mini Gothy he wanted to squeal. Their baby brother/kid was awesome.

"Hey Karma, when you're finally ready and we unseal the island. Do you think we should invite Oneiro to move here properly, he lived here almost all the time anyway we'd just have to make sure he doesn't live in the library?" Goth asked, asking the question they both wanted to know.

"Both Nix and Thanatos will love him here" Palette grinned, more like torment him. Both familiars were in a sealed sleep, they'd wake once Karma and Hearth woke.

"Yeah! I bet dad will love it." Karma was all for the idea, excited about everyone officially being under the same roof and giggling at the mention of the library.

He purred when Palette nuzzled him, happily reciprocating the affection and raising his hands to cuddle up to Goth as well.

Giggling Goth grabbed Karma and ran for it, laughing Palette chases.

------

Between Omniverses

The breath escaping his body was almost startling as he woke.

With a groan Hearth sat up and stretched, yawning he unsealed Karma and his sleepy baby brother appeared in his arms.

"Morning Nebula" he smiled nuzzling them, feeling the strange not time resuming on the island.

Karma let out a sleepy chirp and cuddled up into them, letting out a groggy greeting before using his wings to cover his face.

"Hey none of that, you got to sleep for years. I thought you wanted to see Nix and meet Thanatos. Also see the Bitty area to check on your Bitties" Hearth teased nuzzling them and purring.

Karma let out a grumpy whine, reluctantly putting his wings down but held onto brother tight.

"Carry please." He mumbled groggily, rubbing his eyes to try and wake up but really struggling.

"Of course sleepy, we both need real food too" Hearth chuckled getting out of bed Karma in his arms. Thankfully there was no dust or grossness or mould anywhere as even the kitchens had even sealed in time. So both of them had a light breakfast, then went to wake their familiars.

Karma yawned as he nuzzled into Nix's fur on the sofa, sleepily giggling when they began grooming his wings and slowly starting to feel more alive.

"Caw..." The death crow said stretching, as he had a monster mind he'd found a book and was using his beak to turn pages to read. It looked ridiculous, but the once X was enjoying it.

"See Bitties now?" Karma chirped while holding his familiar, the big fluffy white cat barely fitting in his small arms but still seemed very happy with this arrangement.

"Its been three months outside while we were sealed, so Sora will be excited to meet you." Hearth said as they walked down the hallway to the room "We won't be able to get to close to there town or city. I've yet to perfect magic that allows us to take Bitty size"

Karma happily followed brother while listening to Nix's updates on what he missed when he was ill, letting out a curious chirp when a door he had never seen before was pushed open.

"Welcome to an unnamed world, i set this place to grow like the tent so the people here won't be stuck with one small area," Hearth said fondly.

"Pretty." Karma said in awe, entranced by the tiny buildings and many Bitties running around.

The room looked more like a mini world, the landscape perfectly made to size for the much smaller monsters who called this room home.

"Hearth!" a voice called, and Sora began to rush towards the two normal sized monsters, a group of other familiar Bitties zooming towards Karma.

"Hello Sora, I came to bring Karma to meet you and check on his friends" Hearth greeted happily.

Karma had sat on the ground and was purring loudly while checking over his three friends, so very relieved they were healthy.

"I thought you had died." He sniffled as he cuddled the Bitties, unsure if his gamble to send his friends far away from FATE had worked.

Nix sniffed the three Bitties in curiosity and licked his monsters face, trying to reassure them that everything was ok now.

Hearth and Sora chatted softly, giving Karma time to reassure himself with the Bitties.

He did break out laughing, when Thanatos flew Sora around the room pretending to dive bomb things.

Stars... he had a feeling, Oneiro would be pranked in the future by these two.

When Karma was fully reassured they were completely fine he grew more curious of the other mini monsters here, quietly conversing with a few when Sunny introduced him to some.

A while later they were relaxing watching the Bitties picnic, they had to talk about it.

"After I sealed you I took a few SOULS, they would have been lost due to FATE. They're ones your SOUL worried about, and.. the 404.. I cannot reap the same SOUL twice.. especially when its not his time" Hearth said softly, summoning the SOULS in his hands.

"Due to FATES damage I cannot restore them as monsters, but.. I can as Bitties" he offered, he didn't know who any of them were but the 404 whose SOUL floated a bit away from the others.

Karma stared at the SOUL he knew to be 404, a mix of feelings whenever he thought about them but the recent memory's with them made the decision of what to do next rather easy.

"He was nice to me and tried to keep me safe from her." He couldn't help but feel fond of them despite the bad times, it a tad bittersweet to see how they would be like without a Deities interference.

The other SOULS brother held also brought him a deep sense of relief, worried they had been forever lost to the Void.

"Can you tell me who the others are, so I make there Bitty bodies properly?" Hearth asked softly, he was glad this 404 was not the insane being he was with CHAOS.

Karma pointed to the SOULS that were bobbing about in a group, these one from his Birth multiverse that had been stuck in the endless loops with him.

"Palette, Blue and the Guardians." He pointed to the more lively ones it no surprise when Reaper was not mentioned in the list.

He quietly talked about each SOUL after, a few Errors he had passed by that had accidentally gotten in FATES way so were punished and oddly enough an Ink, that even though he had found them strange he didn't think they deserved to be lost.

There were many SOULS that Karmas magic had latched onto, FATES path of destruction to 'liven up the game' had Impacted so many lives and Karma had desperately tried to save as many as he could.

"..will you have enough space for them all?" He asked worried, hands hovering over a Blues SOULS which was acting oddly playful, his magic protectively curling around the SOULS that were waiting to get a body.

Hearth gently pet an Errors fragile SOUL, who cuddled close to his hand like an abused puppy.

It had been a quick grab, he had not realised just.. just the insanity of how much Karmas magic had claimed as there's.

He almost wished he had made FATES death longer and more painful, but that would not have helped Karma or the many other victims.

"Yeah we have more than enough room, might have to build another town as I don't think Soras group has enough room for this many in there inns and hotel" Hearth answered, the Bitty Colony was still so new a few Bitties here and there would be fine but not this many at once.

As it was, he'd have to make adjustments to there Core codes, as some had serious issues that would make there health suffer, He would never change them, just heal there hurts.

"Come on, I think I know a good area to make them there own settlement and close enough to visit each other" Hearth said picking up Karma, and flew across the seemingly endless room to a nice area between plains and mountains with little lakes to the west.

"I think somewhere around here"

Karma's wings twitched as he inspected the area, looking between it and the SOULS and thinking it was the perfect place for them.

"Lots of room and it's nice and pretty. Even has good places for privacy." He said happily, holding a bunch of SOULS in his arms and 'showing them' each of the cool places their new home had.

"Any of them you want to be given a body before I start creating there home?" he asked curious "Its there future homes after all"

Karma looked between all the SOULS before picking out three and holding them up to brother.

"404 I think will want to help and the Ink and Error from one multiverse I stopped in." He said after much thought, the three SOULS knowing each other and working rather well together.

"Alright nebula, I need to make their bodies carefully, to make sure no health issues" he said taking the SOULS gently it took an hour but soon enough the three new Bitties were in front of him.

The Ink Bitty was the first to realise what was happening and squealed in excitement, near tackling the Error one and rambling in enthusiasm.

404 was a tad shaky but when his eye lights landed on Karma he felt some tension leave him, even if he was terribly confused.

He ignored the grumbling from Error next to him, knowing they were just being prickly at Ink being in their space again.

Hearth chuckled, and gently explained to the three what was going on. He was pretty sure 404 had already connected his deathly self, to this version of himself.

"That makes sense." 404 shockingly calmly to the information shared, not even looking as his hand shot out to grab the back of Inks shirt to stop them from running off.

"Ugh, even the Void isn't enough to get away from them." The Error Bitty grumbled, not truly that angry and trying to hide how off kilter he felt in his new situation.

"Don't worry, theres still the other town and plenty of places in this growing Bitty world to explore and alone time. My magic and wards keep this place magic full, means Bitties don't need a bigger monster with them all the time" Hearth grinned, he then showed them a picture of the other town asking if they wanted certain theme for their town.

"Space! No wait, animals! What about the ocean." Ink rambled on with ever growing excitement, silenced when Error placed a hand over their mouth to shut them up.

"Brighter colours would be a start. I expect a few still recall the Void and an obvious change from that should be calming." 404 suggested, Hearth having reassured them they could change it after and betting there would be a few Creators who would love to do that once fully settled in.

"No ocean here, That's a few miles away.. or will be anyway as I promised Sora to build one" Hearth giggled, pulling up his screen and slowly the five of them began to shape the town out. He did manage to talk the Ink out of super bright, unless he wanted every Fresh Bitty in existence to fourth wall their way here to live there.

He liked a lot of Fresh, after all a Fresh 404 had adopted him eons ago. He still missed them, even if he left part of himself as a bitty with them.

"So... mostly brick homes with coloured roofs, and.. what about this for colour?" Hearth asked creating a mini tree where its leaves prettily shaded one colour to another as the false Sun of the area hit it "I call them Rainbow Oaks"

"I need ten of them." Ink squealed with stars in his eyes, Error wincing at how loud they were and tripping them up when they tried to run off.

It was like dealing with a hyperactive dog, his eye twitching when he heard them mumble new ideas to experiment with.

"Do you have big ones, brother?" Karma asked hopefully, gently poking the small leaves on the tree and loving the pretty colours.

"Not yet, I only have them small as I was trying to make something else and created these bitty trees by accident" Hearth giggled "Making them big size, hasn't worked yet... the leaves don't grow right yet big"

404 looked at the tree in interest, the growing town coming together nicely and feeling he would enjoy his new home, it nice to have a solid place after years of wandering.

Hearth soon began to build the settlement, the Ink on his shoulder giving 'advice' on how he should build. Hearth was also giving suggestions, Error was mostly shooting down stupid ideas. It was kind of fun.

404 made sure to calm down Error when they looked to be tipping over the edge, pleased at how the town was growing and amused at the weird suggestions Ink kept suggesting.

"How does this look?" Hearth asked pulling back a bit, the community centre was built with a yard lined with the cheerful tress, even had little park benches themes after the trees. There were even roads and sidewalks. It was easy enough to adjust this early.

"Looks good to me." 404 said impressed, Error giving a grunt in answer which was basically a yes.

"...we need to add more colour and sparkles!" Ink spoke up, literal sparkles surrounding him as he gushed on all the benefits of it.

"They are funny." Karma giggled, liking this Ink more after having his memories fully back and bet his three Bitty friends would love them as well.

"Ink, you can decorate your own property later" Hearth chuckled, and nuzzled Karma happily.

Ink looked thrilled by that, abruptly grabbing Error and pulling them down the road to explore.

It was like watching a cat and dog interact, 404 snorting when Error literally hissed at Ink a few minutes later.

"Where do you want your place, so I can make sure you have a way up there 404?" Hearth asked softly, as long as this 404 never became like the CHAOS edition he was fine.

"Higher up if you can. I'm not that picky about what it looks like as I'm pretty sure Ink will want to decorate it." 404 wanted to be able to see all the town but also have a bit of privacy, still having to grapple with the thought that he no longer had to travel from place to place but with no home of his own.

"What about there?" Hearth suggested, he pointed at a nearby mountain that had a shelf-like area perfect for a singular house and gardens that would have a nice view. It was big enough for a garden also.

"Looks perfect." 404 truly thought it was a great location, the privacy yet also seeing civilization nearby was the perfect mix of what he wanted.

Hearth grinned before they began to build, to create.

Karma and himself had a lot of fun over the next week of building, then carefully restoring the SOULS into aBbitty body.

------

Hearth smiled as he watched Karma playing in the winter zone, enjoying the snow and building snow monsters. He was glad it had almost been completed before this event, and now it was up. Karma was thrilled to hear each season was getting a zone, specially summer which would hopefully have an ocean like zone.

"Do you feel ready to open the island to Oneiro again, other monsters are waiting to see you again?" Hearth asked softly.

Karma paused in giving his snowman angel wings, a tad hesitant but he did miss certain monsters.

"Ok. You can open it again." He said still sounding hesitant but Nix soon ambled along and flopped in front of him, meowing as if to say they wouldn't be alone.

"Alright, let me text your dad so he'll know and can come in" Hearth said pulling his phone out, as he sent the text he opened the island to Oneiro. At this point, it had been five months for Oneiro.

Hearth had just sent the text and barely a minute later a portal formed beside him with Oneiro quickly stepping through and going directly towards Karma.

"Dad.." Karma sniffled at seeing them again and held out his arms, quickly swept up into Oneiros arms.

"Oh I missed you, little raven.~" Oneiro cooed gently, nuzzling them lovingly and folding his wings around them.

Hearth moved a bit away, letting the two have some privacy but not too far in case Karma panicked.

After all, due to sealing everything and playing with time, he's had years with Karma.

Karma purred loudly, clinging to dad as tightly as he had done to brother when he had first started this healing process.

He basked in the parental bonds, the small bit of stress remaining over the years of recovery dissipating with this solid comfort.

"He fell asleep.~" Oneiro said utterly fond, not wanting to look away from his child after going months without.

"He missed you, I'm glad he was finally ready for me to open the gate for you" Hearth said fondly as they walked back to the house, Oneiro gently pulling the winter gear off Karma. "How about you update me on the outside, and I'll update you on Karma and what's been happening here"

Oneiro held the sleeping babybones in his lap, cuddling them close while quietly relaying the omniverse news.

It was mainly talking about how many Creators had teamed up to make more stable multiverses and even a few Destroyers adding more warning systems in place mainly as they were annoyed by all the extra work.

The Omniverse had gone through a massive change and with a major Deity removed a lot of monsters had 'woken up' from the chains they had been forced to bear.

Of course not all of it was perfect and Oneiro doubted it would last forever but the odd stance of 'peace' was oddly refreshing.

"That's good, I'm just glad FATES influence didn't get past one Omniverse. Just wish I'd been able to grab more SOULS due to the multiverses that collapsed due to them" Hearth replied, then went over what had happened with Karma and himself.

"By the way what happened to the Gate to the collapsed multiverses, do i need to remove it?" he asked, he would also need to move the island he'd quickly set up by it so everyone wouldn't tumble into the endless between.

"It's still standing. Nova is guarding it currently as a few idiots kept trying to touch it and nearly dusted themselves.~" Oneiro truly worried about the IQ of some monsters, especially when he had gone out of his way to warn people not to touch the gate or look over the edge and they still kept doing it.

"Some idiot Creators have expressed wanting to study it. Please get rid of it.~" He was tired of having to stop Nova from trying to dust any Ink that got near, Novas grudge against that monster type still being annoyingly strong.

"Once Karma wakes from his nap, he still panics if I'm out of sight to long" Hearth told him "And while I do that he can show you the new bitty settlement"

"How big is it now?~" Oneiro thought the colony had been rather large before but guessed it made sense it had been expanded by how many SOULS Hearth had saved.

"You'll have to go look with Karma" he sniggered.

Oneiro huffed at their amusement, guessing it would be a shock to see but didn't press for my answers, more than happy to quietly cuddle up with his child.

Nix lay on a high self and watched on with one eye open, not likely to stop watching the babybones for a long while or let them out of their sight.

There was silence for a while, the only sound when Hearth briefly left to get them something to drink and nibble on. "How would you feel about moving here officially, not as just a rest stop?"

"..what brought this on?~" Oneiro was honestly surprised by the offer, feeling Hearth had been very generous when they even allowed him access to their home and hadn't expected anything further.

"Karma no longer feels safe living outside due to FATE, likely won't for years. And to tell the truth you two spend more time here then your place even when not travelling" Hearth admitted.

Oneiro couldn't dispute that, preferring to rest here when he could due the numerous protections in place, rarely going back to his own place which was pretty much deserted at this point.

"I suppose it would make sense to do that then. It won't take long for me to move my things anyway.~" He often carried everything he needed or was important in his Inventory, especially after Karma's many 'adventures'.

"Oneiro, when I visited your place due to CHAOS it was a mostly empty place" he said with a giggle.

Oneiro didn't see the problem, his home having done what it was intended to and Karma rarely stayed there anyway, so saw no point in decorating it.

"It was comfy though.~" He lightly defended himself, his brother having similar views when they saw his place.

Hearth gave Oneiro a highly judgmental look clearly remembering the kitchens state. One, that would have started long before the CHAOS 404 issue.

"So it was a little empty. That design is highly fashionable in some AU's.~" Oneiro said innocently but with a sparkle in his eyes that clearly showed he knew the issue but was enjoying winding them up.

The next hour was filled with teasing jabs about Oneiro's home, and how bad it was.

Karma shifted awake around lunchtime, unconsciously nuzzling into Oneiros chest where their SOUL was and yawning when he cracked his eyes open.

"Have a good nap, sleep head?~" Oneiro cooed at how adorable they looked, humming when Karma wrapped their arms around his neck and sleepily mumbled they were hungry.

"Morning sweetsoul" Hearth grinned, and passed Karma a sandwich. He'd briefly gone to his kitchen a few minutes ago for food, unsure when Karma would wake.

Karma sleepily nibbled his food, one hand tight on dad's shirt as if to make sure they stayed in place.

"Morning..dad staying?" He said hopefully, chirping when Oneiro nuzzled his face.

"Of course I'm staying. You can't get rid of me that easily, little raven.~" Oneiro said teasingly, purring at the loud giggles Karma let out.

"You're going to be showing the improvements to the Bitty room today Karma, I have to run an errand so Nova doesn't kill a random Ink.. or some idiot doesn't fall into the between" Hearth said, the last part said rather dryly.

Karmas head whipped towards Hearth, wings twitching anxiously at the mention of errand.

"Will you be long..?" He said nervously, not liking the idea of them leaving at all, especially to go outside.

"No, I'm just getting rid of the gate I used to slip through to you. It leads to nowhere now, but I left a lot of Death magic imprinted in it so its a bad idea to leave there. Also to get rid of the platform" Hearth smiled reaching over, and he rubbed Karmas skull.

"I'd rather not give people a known platform to the between. As then they will want to explore, and guess who will be the one fishing idiots out of wherever they land?" Hearth said extremely dryly.

"You?" Karma said innocently, giggling when they leaned down to nuzzle him.

"I'd love to see all the new things here, Karma, and having my own cute little tour guide sounds wonderful.~" Oneiro said playfully to the babybones, relieved they looked less stressed by the distraction and reassurance by Hearth.

"I'll leave once you've eaten a bit more" Hearth said fondly "Then you can boss Oneiro to get them to finish moving in"

Oneiro snorted when Karma cheered and began chanting the word 'boss' like it was a game. It was nice to see his child so carefree.

A snort escaped Hearth.

"Finish your food, Karma. You need lots of energy if you want to show me everything~" Oneiro held out their plate with the rest of the sandwich and some fruit, encouraging Karma to finish off their lunch.

"Alright baby boss, I leave you in charge of Minion Oneiro. I'll be back before you know it" Hearth said kissing Karmas skull, then a teasing grin at Oneiro. Then with a laugh vanished in sparkly light because he knew Karma would laugh.

Nix let out a feline laugh when Karma began lecturing Oneiro to 'get their stuff super quickly so they could move in' before dragging the larger monster out of the room without waiting for a reply.

He was happy his monster was feeling better, stretching his body before jumping down and quickly following the sound of laughter down the hall.

An amused crow laugh sounded somewhere out of sight, enjoying Oneiro being bossed.

Oneiro let himself be dragged from place to place, nodding along as Karma spoke a million miles an hour.

He made sure to ask questions when it looked like the babybones looked uneasy at not seeing Hearth, the Bitties being a wonderful distraction that they spent a good amount of time in.

It was Karma debating names for the new settlement that Hearth got home to, he grinned enjoying how animated his baby brother was.

"Everything go ok?~" Oneiro asked distractedly, doubting there would be any issues but mainly watching Karma have an adorable debate with an Ink Bitty.

"Other then stopping Nova from throwing an Ink off the side of the platform, all good" Hearth grumbled, but both gate and platform were gone.

"Did the Ink try and make friends with Nova?~" Oneiro was more stating a fact than asking, as he had witnessed far too many similar scenarios of Nova trying to strangle an Ink that was being 'suspiciously friendly' in the crazed Errors eyes.

"No, the Ink went into an art frenzy and wanted to take the defunct gate home and base an AU around it" Hearth said shaking his head, some Inks were... trying.

"Of course they did..~" Oneiro muttered tiredly, barely able to stand the Creator types due to this sort of behaviour but pleased Nova was actually doing their job...even if it was in a rather violent way.

"Seems you will have many Creator types living in the place now.~" He smiled at the small swarm of Ink Bitties joining in on the debate with Karma, amused to see the Error types standing far away.

"Only Sora and Karma's companions can enter the main house" he whispered to Oneiro's hearing only.

Oneiro thought that was the wiser decision ever made, a tad concerned at some of the things he was overhearing and thinking it was best to contain whatever that was in this room.

"But... I am working on a shrink and grow magic rune, so Karma can explore this growing little world the same size as their friends. There are no dangers here" Hearth hummed "Want to help me with that, he'd probably love to have something from both of us"

"It could be a fun little project. I'm sure he would get plenty of use out of that.~" Oneiro hadn't done anything just for fun in a long while and thought this could also help him to relax, still slightly on edge after the gruelling past year of never ending events.

"You can even help me with the other three season areas if you want, but... I'm thinking of allowing Pale, Nova and Template to visit here at least once so they can eyeball Karma as they say, as this is his home" Hearth offered.

"I think that's a wonderful idea.~" Oneiro was rather relieved by the suggestion, Pale having been rather worried in their own emotionally unique way and Nova kept blowing up his phone with texts asking about updates.

It was Template who was winning the award for 'least annoying' and that was mainly due to knowing that the odd Creator was still a tad fearful of him due to the nature of their first meeting.

"It would be a nice surprise for Karma, think we can arrange it as a dinner soon?" hearth asked.

"Should be easy enough. Any particular date you are thinking of?~" Oneiro said thoughtfully as he pulled out his phone, sending out a group text to the monsters in question.

He doubted there would be any objections or issues, none of the three having many obligations in their lives so had a very free schedule.

"Tomorrow if possible, I think Karma needs more people he knows well. I doubt he'll head out any time soon, but reassure they still care" he hummed.

"We have plenty of time.~" Oneiro nodded in understanding of their reasoning, immortality coming into handy at times like these as there was no rush to push Karma beyond what they were comfortable with.

------

Hearth hummed as he worked on dinner, Karma bouncing at the table as he coloured. Both were a bit nervous, Hearth had never had so any people visiting at once at his home. There home, there were three of them living here now. Oneiro has somehow moved everything left at his old place, over this morning.

Karma kept glancing up to check on brother, his wings fluttering anxiously as time passed with the hold on his crayon growing tighter as time passed.

His thoughts were a mess, old doubts coming to mind the closer it came to dinner.

'Would they even like him anymore..?'

He was broken out of his morose feelings when he heard a portal open, spotting dad immediately but his eyes settled on the other monsters.

Oneiros smile briefly faltered at the emotions he sensed coming off his child and instantly knew the cause, taking a step to the side just as Pale darted forward and picked up Karma.

"Sorry I took so long, Hearth. Some people insisted on bringing more things then needed.~" Oneiro gave Template an unimpressed look at their chants of 'it wasn't a waste', watching as Nova went to join in on the babybones cuddles and very impressed they only gave Pale a brief scowl before nuzzling Karma.

"Its fine Oneiro, this place has plenty of space" Hearth giggled as peered up from the simmering sauce, gaze softening at the scene "Its not like you brought extra people"

Heck, the place had plenty of extra rooms due to it growing from his magic if they wanted to stay a few days.

"How exciting! I brought so much stuff and I created so many cute toys! I've never made something so delicate before but Pale was so nervous and I just had to-"

Oneiro didn't bother to be polite and instead bodily moved Template nearer Karma so the word vomit could leave his vicinity, sighing in relief when a new far more receptive target was found for them.

"They don't stop. I'm pretty sure if Pale had a monster SOUL they would have killed their counterpart centuries ago.~" He whispered to Hearth but doubted he would be overheard by Template loudly showing off all the toys they made for Karma.

"Will those even fit in the play room?" Hearth whispered back, as he prepared the final part of the noodles.

"Absolutely not. They brought a lot.~" Oneiro said with forced cheer, unsure how to tell Hearth that this was only half the things that Template wanted to bring and he swore it could easily fill a whole AU.

"Do... I need to give them talks like I give you?" Hearth asked eyes narrowing,

Why was he the mature parent in this group, and he was an eternal child!

"Only to Nova I think but I doubt you will get through to him. It's nothing serious, Hearth. They were just worried and you know how under socialised Template types can be. they should settle down after today.~" Oneiro said calmly, not truly worried about any of this as he could sense how worried all of them had been for Karma.

It was frankly a miracle Nova could even speak yet alone do anything else with how broken their mind was, this truly the most stable he thought they would ever be.

"I'll give Template a gentle talk once Karma goes to bed, on appropriate gift amounts then...as long as its one time" Hearth hummed softly.

"Karma clear your colouring materials, time for dinner" he called, as the specialised oven for breaded items beeped. Quickly he pulled the pan out, he'd made mini personal garlic breads for everyone.

Karma didn't even have to move before blue strings gently moved his drawings and pencils to the small box in the kitchen meant for his toys, chirping a thanks at Nova and giggling as Pale nuzzled him.

Oneiro helped Hearth to put everything on the table, greatly relieved Template had stopped talking and thinking this was going much more civil than he expected.

"Hope you like homemade spaghetti, we have chocolate pie for dessert once everyone is done" Hearth smiled as everyone was served, smile twitching amused as Karma grabbed two of the mini garlic breads to eat first. Which was fine, as he made probably more then everyone needed.

The dinner was filled with the occasional conversation mainly Template asking about all the wards that Hearth had with the food quickly disappearing under the monsters voracious appetite.

"You do know we have cutlery.~" Oneiro said dryly as he watched Nova near shovel food into their mouth, feeling he would need to keep better checks on Nova to make sure they wouldn't dust due to forgetting to do something simple like eating.

Then came out the pies, everyone got their own personal sized one. Mostly to stop the chocolate fiends from starting a war on slice sizes.

Karma near inhaled his own, eyeing Novas in thought and chirping happily when a section was cut off and placed on his empty plate.

"You do realise, there are more pies Karma" Hearth sniggered, he did know his child.

Karma was too far in chocolate heaven to respond, near licking his plate and cooing happily when a brand new pie magically appeared.

Template was snapping pictures like crazy, mumbling about 'scrap books' with Pale actually seeming invested in the conversation for once.

"How did you get so much food on you" Hearth laughed as they all finished, taking in his messy little nestling "Oneiro, how about you give our Guests a tour while I get Karma in the bath"

Karma's face was practically smeared with chocolate, his clothes having garlic bread stains and somehow quite a bit of spaghetti.

He chirped happily at the idea of a bath, briefly sending out a small pulse of magic to make sure everyone was ok and not an illusionbefore raising his arms to be picked up.

"We'll see you all later, when I no longer have a food monster" Hearth grinned, swooping Karma up, then headed down to his bedroom as it had the biggest tub for Karma. Well, other than the one in Oneiro's room.

Oneiro thought the tour went rather well, no fights broke out and apart from Templates countless questions he thought it went rather well.

He was just showing them the barn when Karma barrelled into his legs, picking up the chirping babybones who looked rather cute in their bird onesie.

"All well?" Hearth asked following Karmas path.

"All is good. We might find it hard to get Template to leave though.~" Oneiro joked, Template looking like they were in a Creators heaven.

"Do children need animals to be happy?" Pale asked curious, all the books he read unclear on that and was sure he could have a small farm if that was required.

It really said something that Pale was the most sensible of the three, even having notes on childcare he carried in his Inventory so he never forgot.

"No Pale, but children are rarely good for long times alone. Karma is an animal lover, and most of our food is from the farms of many types on this island. Karma already has Nix as an animal companion" Hearth told Pale amused.

Pale nodded in understanding and wrote that down, practically a sponge for this sort of information.

Nix puffed up in pride, winding around Oneiros legs before climbing them to rest on their shoulder to have a better view of everyone.

"Pale, before you all leave I'm going to give you my phone number. I have a feeling you have many questions that Oneiro can't answer.. or will troll you" Hearth told Pale.

"Oneiro doesn't answer my questions to an adequate level, so I appreciate the offer." Pale was pleased by the offer, his approval of Hearth as a caretaker for Karma only solidified with how happy the babybones looked.

"You can send me a list of questions later, right now you all have to agree on who gets to put Karma to bed with stories" Hearth said, his tone saying if they argued he would do it himself.

Pale didn't even say anything and just turned to Template, knowing they were the best with imagination.

He stepped on Novas foot when he saw them about to open their mouth, his pink eyelights darkening and silently asking them if they really thought they could do better.

"I love story time! I have so many new ones to share and I even brought a new book!" Template practically lit up, excitedly grabbing a book from his Inventory and showing Karma all the stories to pick from.

"I think we have our winner then. ~" Oneiro said playfully, nuzzling Karma when they giggled and adoring the amount of happiness coming off them.

"We can always arrange future visits" Hearth giggled "So you all have a turn"

------

"I can't believe it was Nova, that caused issues to get them to leave" Hearth said tiredly, as the three of them ate a light lunch. "But.. probably shouldn't have showed him the small auto farm/factory for my few chocolate plants"

"I thought he was about to dust on the spot from sheer happiness.~" Oneiro said dryly,

The effort it took to drag Nova away from the plants was truly monumental but at least Karma had found it amusing.

"At least it's peaceful again" Hearth hummed.

Oneiro sighed in agreement, enjoying the quiet again so was rightfully startled when a glitchy black portal formed above them before a small body slammed into the table and scattered the food everywhere.

He stared speechless at the small babybones a Paperjam if he wasn't mistaken sneezed before briefly looking at them with a curious look while stuffing a fork into their mouth.

...he had the feeling they wouldn't have be any peace for a while at this rate.

~~~~~

Hearth: *Unsealing Karma after years spent in his mind scape resting* It's time to wake up, nebula

Karma: *Cracking one eye open before covering himself with his wing* 5 more minutes...

-

*Newly created Ink bitty instantly tackling an Error Bitty when he sees them*

404 Bitty: *Looking on fondly as Error tries to strangle Ink* It's always nice when they along. Such good friends

-

404 Bitty: *Watching in amusement the small army of Ink Bitties have a creative discussion* This place is so very lively

The many Error Bitties: *Acting like feral cats whenever they see an Ink Bitty and trying to stay as far away as possible*

-

*Gate to collapsed multiverses*

Nova: *Guarding it with the viciousness of a dragon and looking close to snapping* I swear if another Creator comes here I will-

Random Ink: *Appearing and poking the area and trying to be friendly* Hey! Want to be friends?

Nova: *All his buttons pressed and giving a deranged smile at some 'fun' ideas to deal with them* Sure~

-

Karma: *Worried if Pale, Nova and Template still like him* I wonder if they even want to see me anymore...

*As soon as the three monsters in question see Karma*

Pale: *Instantly tackling Karma into a hug*

Template: *Dumping a truck load of new toys by their feet*

Nova: *Trying to aggressively cuddle Karma*

-

Nova: *Spotting food and shivering it in his mouth like a wild animal*

Karma: *Watching in awe and tempted to copy them*

Oneiro: *Having a meatball splattered on his cheek due to how messy Nova eats, looking deeply unimpressed* I forgot how you weren't domesticated yet~

-

Nova: *Spotting a chocolate auto farm and instantly latching onto it* MINE!

Oneiro: *Sighing and grabbing a broom to chase them off* I should have expected this..~

-

Oneiro: *Tired after so much socialization* At least we can have a peaceful lunch~

*Ten seconds later a Paperjam babybones slams into the table and starts eating the cutlery*

Oneiro: *Sighing deeply* I should have known better then to jinx it~