Crescent x Gradient Oneshots

Gradient hummed softly as he walked down the street. He paused, adjusting his grip on the shopping bags he was carrying.

He should've brought a car. Sure, it was a short trip, but these bags were heavy. Oh well, he'd remember that for next time.

He continued going on his way, humming his song again as he approached an alleyway. He glanced around, checking to see if anyone was watching before walking into it. 

This alley was the only way for him to get home. Fortunately, no one ever came down here. He made sure of that.

"I'm home!" he called out, putting the bags on the table. He didn't get an answer, but that was alright. He didn't expect one from someone who wasn't supposed to be awake yet.

Gradient continued humming as he put the groceries away, before beginning to make lunch. This particular song had been stuck in his head for months and while it was starting to get old, he just loved it.

He ate his own lunch, and brought the second plate upstairs. Walking down the hall until he reached the last room, Gradient reached into his pocket pulling out a key and slipping it into the lock. He smiled brightly, placing the key back and walking into the room.

His housemate seemed concentrated as he was seated on the floor, surveying the strings holding him and his soul in place. 

"Hello there," Gradient said, placing the plate down. The other flinched, looking up.

"What's going on?"

"Nice to see you too, Crescent," he replied.

"What do you want with me?" Crescent asked, his eyes narrowing. 

"Hm?"

"If it's information you want, you aren't getting it from me," he hissed. 

"Oh, I don't want information," he said with a laugh. 

"Then you want to use me as a hostage?" he asked, before adding. "It won't work." 

"I don't want a hostage either." Crescent blinked, visibly confused.

"That... doesn't make sense. Every other time the Stars caught me, they-"

"Crescent, I don't want information or a hostage," he repeated. "I want you."

"Me?" Crescent asked, his eyelights shrinking slightly.

"You," he repeated. The other was silent for a few moments, his eyes not leaving Gradient. Judging by the look on his face, Crescent was surveying his aura, trying to figure out what to make of him. 

"You have a different aura," he said, "who the hell are you?"

"My aura hasn't changed at all. I just hid it with code," he explained. It was something he learned from his father. He had seen him do it once and just copied him. It turned out to be very useful when this mess started.

"I- I don't believe that," Crescent hissed. 

"Crescent, let's talk about this later," Gradient said softly, "I brought you something to eat." 

"I don't want it," he hissed.

"Crescent. You need to eat," Gradient said, firmly. 

"Go away." Gradient took a deep breathe. Getting mad was how he escaped the last time.

"You're trying to make me mad on purpose, aren't you?" he asked, trying to keep his voice even. "It won't work. Just eat the sandwich, there isn't a lot of negativity here." Crescent glared at him for a moment.

"I said I don't want it," he said. 

"And why not?" he asked.

"I don't trust you." 

"Well, that's just rude. I thought we were friends."

"The Gradient I knew wasn't like this."

"Wasn't like what?" Gradient asked.

"Like... like this!" Crescent exclaimed, attempting to gesture at the strings with one of his tendrils. It wasn't very obvious since the positivity from the AU weakened his magic and the movement of his extra limbs, but Gradient got the message anyway.

"I was always like this," he said with a shrug.

"Liar," Crescent hissed, beginning to struggle. Gradient gave a soft sigh. Crescent was really confused, wasn't he? Maybe playing around with some codes would help.

"I'm not lying," Gradient said, as he visualized Crescent's code. "Think of it from my perspective. You're getting yourself into trouble every other week. Either it's the Stars, or you get lost somehow, or you manage to annoy your parents so much they ground you in a neutral AU for a few weeks. I care about you. If I have to tie you up to keep you out of trouble, then this is what I'll do." 

That wasn't the whole reason, but it was enough for Crescent to finally calm down a bit as the adjustments took hold.

"I... I guess I do get into a lot of trouble," he mumbled. "But why did you need to bring me to a positive AU?"

"If the Stars decide to call me and I'm in a negative AU, they might get suspicious," Gradient explained. "When PJ left, mom was so mad. I really thought my parents had swapped roles for a while." He shuddered, recalling the memory.

The first part hadn't been true; he chose a positive AU so Nightmare wouldn't be able to get in. He needed to add something to the end so Crescent wouldn't be able to sense the lie.

"Really? I don't remember that..." Crescent said. Right. That didn't happen this time.

"Well, I don't think mom would have wanted something like that to be known to the rest of the Stars," Gradient replied.

"Still... It'd be hard to hide that, wouldn't it?" Crescent asked. Gradient shrugged.

"Are you gonna eat the sandwich now?" he asked, changing the subject. Crescent took a moment to think about it.

"I guess so," he said slowly. Gradient smiled. He'd do everything right this time. 

If he did this right, maybe the True Reset wouldn't happen this time. He wouldn't have to write down what happened this timeline because the loop would end.

Right?