Snowcon Forest

Family

It had been a day since Hat Kid and Snatcher had revealed their pasts to each other, each one feeling lighter after sharing the emotional burden they had been carrying for years. In turn even the air felt clearer in a sense, the overhanging pungent scent of grief fading as the shadow accepted something about his past he had not confronted for years.

It was freeing to realize that he did not love Vanessa anymore, like a crushing weight had been lifted off of him.

Of course the inhabitants of Subcon were extremely curious as to what had gone on, they had all felt the emotional turmoil their Boss, and even the newbie, had gone through, but no one wanted to ask in case they further upset anyone.

Well, no one except Moonjumper that is.

The corpse had been more than a little worried about how the child and his other self had been doing during their talk and once he had sensed that they were finished he immediately dropped by to check on them. He had been happy to help Hat Kid get over the remnant emotional turmoil by taking her to get ice cream and Snatcher's protests had made it even better.

He was going to be the best uncle ever!

After getting some ice cream from Mafia Town, a triple scoop of vanilla, chocolate, and strawberry for the child, the duo had hung out for a little bit. Moonjumper had eagerly chatted about his new home at Subcon Village.

It was also a tree stump, a bit larger than the others considering his size, and had glowing lights all over it. The inside was a circular room that had a hammock, a couple drawing hung up on the walls, and some books scattered about.

Even after being torn in two both parts of the Prince still loved reading.

He had, naturally, told her that she was welcome to visit whenever she wanted, even if it was just to take a nap.

For some reason she then started crying.

Moonjumper promptly picked up the child, careful to avoid getting any ice cream on both of their clothes, and hugged her in an attempt to help her calm down. It was at this point it became clear to the corpse that he would have to find out exactly what she and Snatcher had spoken about.

Just not right now.

It took several minutes for her to calm down. When her tears were dry she squirmed in his arms, a signal for him to put her down, and they went back to enjoying the starlit sky. The child pressed herself against him and he gently placed an arm over her shoulders.

This continued for some time, soft words being spoken between bites of ice cream and the occasional brain freeze that would occur.

Once the ice cream was finished Hat Kid fell asleep against him, curling up so she was fully leaning on his side with one of his gangly arms draped over her. He smiled, basking in the amount of trust she had placed in him, before picking her up and taking her back to Subcon.

Apparently Snatcher had been pacing, worried about the child he had essentially adopted, while they were gone. Not that he would ever tell Moonjumper that, but a helpful Subconite did, chuckling the entire time.

Supposedly he had even been threatening the corpse, which amused Moonjumper to no end.

So Hat Kid had been dropped off to the shadow, who had quickly checked her over for any other signs of distress and grilled Moonjumper on what he had done with her. He had simply laughed and vanished, returning to his home in a flash of magic.

After that he had waited for the fresh wounds to heal over before picking at them once again, so to speak.

A new day dawned in Subcon Forest, today, and Moonjumper rushed over to Snatcher's home, mind buzzing with the dozens of questions he wished to ask about his niece and her past. Curiosity and concern nagged at him and there were several times he ended up bumping into trees because he had not been paying enough attention to his surroundings.