The Paperjam babybones (Star) has a blast at this new place.
Oneiro and Hearth are very much stressed and are grateful when things finally start to settle down once the odd babybones finally leaves.

——

(Another long collaboration with Firehedgehog with much more in the future 😸)

(Star is a babybones from my fic 'Splash of ink' with his pov in Chapter 49.)

———

Between Omniverses

"So your name is Star, how... exactly did you get through the wards?" Hearth asked, even if it was a child he didn't want random people in his home. They seemed to like eating his cutlery, he was now glad he had extra sets in storage.

No Oneiro he was not a Hoarder, anything he saved he usually donated.

They'd come through the portal alone.

"'Wards'? Is that a type of food?" Star said obliviously, purring as he munched a very yummy spoon and reaching a hand to grab a plate next.

He had just been trying to have fun and his magic took him somewhere very exciting, the food here rather filling.

"There a magical wall, that's suppose to keep people from entering. And no, wards are not to eat" Hearth replied, somehow managing to save his nicer plates from being eaten.

Star hummed thoughtfully as he munched a fork, looking at the odd numbers in his vision and poking the ones he guessed were the 'walls'.

...they looked really yummy but he remembered Creator telling him not to eat things he wasn't sure about, looking away sadly and cheered himself up with more cutlery.

"Seems silly." Was the babybones serious response, not seeing the point of them and giggling as his fingers poked the so called 'wards' and made them go wobbly.

"Seems silly to you, but there suppose to protect us which they can't do if you eat them" Hearth replied.

Star decided to leave the 'wards' alone after one last poke, the plates an excellent alternative in his opinion.

This monster had been nice and given him yummy food, deciding they were nice and maybe even a new friend.

"They truly have a large appetite.~" Oneiro was impressed at how much they were eating for such a small babybones, amused by how they were convinced to move off the table by just offering a plate.

"Why don't you and Karma go play Star" Hearth offered, he had to get more plates and cutlery out of storage.

Well that, and move the wards coding out of Stars sticky hands reach, He'd never met someone else with Code sight before, at least not on the same level as his own.

Well then, that just meant he had to tidy up the islands Codes so Star wouldn't play and adjust things to his liking.

Star grabbed an armful of cutlery and followed where the Codes said Karma was, wondering if he was going to get two new friends today.

"He is a little character. Any idea how he got in?~" Oneiro asked when the babybones left, the emotions coming off Star a tad headache inducing.

"He can see and adjust Codes like me, never ran across anyone else like me" Hearth said, then smirked as suddenly the Codes were all out of Stars reach and the little PJ type couldn't create or destroy on the island.

"You truly are a magnet for odd children.~" Oneiro half joked, seeing Code so easily and at such a young age wasn't exactly a common talent.

"I'm an odd child myself, but my skill was learned he was born with it. So.. don't be surprised if you feel me adjust the wards a few more times" Hearth shrugged, with the children outside they finally got a chance to clean the kitchen,

Oneiro was glad for the warning but he still twitched every time he felt Hearth shift the wards, a tad alarmed what Star was like in the omniverse when they didn't have such restrictions placed on them.

It took five hours and way too many adjustments, but Hearth finally had Star locked out of the islands wards and so much more. "I really hope these Guardians of his have common sense"

Oneiro wasn't sure why he had the sudden urge to laugh, as just looking at Star and seeing how they acted made him wish their guardians good luck.

"They definitely have their hands full, that is for sure.~" He smirked, cooing when Karma ran in with Star seemingly to be playing tag.

"Oneiro, can you head out and try to track down there Adults. I'd rather not leave in case he finds another way in. Also.. because I will scream if he somehow pulls in the rogue Broomy that apparently adopted him" Hearth asked.

Oneiro snorted at Hearths looks, pretty sure their eye hadn't stopped twitching when Star happily shared stories about their best friend, knowing it would be chaos if that thing entered.

"I'll give it a shot....are you upping the wards again?~" He couldn't help his amusement, their newest guest truly adding lots of 'excitement' to their otherwise calm day.

"Not yet, but likely soon. He's such a Code breaker, but once he leaves we'll definitely be more secure" Hearth twitched, he hadn't even known about some holes in his wards till Star found them.

Worse, this was likely a game to Star.

Well... at least Star wasn't getting in anywhere near as fast.

Oneiro thought it best to leave when he heard Stars delighted giggles next door which was immediately followed by Hearths darkening look and quiet cursing.

"I'll try and be quick.~" He promised, quick to form a portal and leave before things could get more chaotic.

It couldn't be soon enough for Hearth,

------

Oneiro had truly never seen parents more suited for a child then right now, unwillingly awed at how unhinged the parents were and the way they weren't even aware of it.

It had been easier to find them then expected and after a quick chat and dodging the feral Broomy he had convinced them to follow him, pretty sure Hearth was going to love this.

Hearth stared at Oneiro as he returned with the parents, a rather dead eyed look when he felt a feral Broomie bounce off the portal as the wards denied it entrance.

"No feral Broomy's" He said folding his arms "You can grab it when you go back"

"He's house broken. No longer tries to eat through the walls but a bit picky with strangers. Practically an angel." End said without a hint of irony and looking genuinely confused by the comment, all the while Brom snarled behind the ward before Oneiro forcibly shut the portal.

Oneiro had no words for that, looking at the monster called Origin in futile hope they would have some words to refute that but that was swiftly crushed by their bright smile.

"Ah, I see" Hearth said eye socket twitching a bit, mentally blocking Star again.

They were those types of Ink and Error.

Once they were gone, and he had some sleep he'd totally go over the Codes and rewrite some bits as he wouldn't be racing to fix and block a little Code breaker at the same time.

"Star! Have you been eating well? Do we need to go find a Deity to play with? I think I heard of one that no one would mind going missing." Origin instantly fussed over Star when the babybones entered the room, looking over them before pulling a plate out of his Inventory to feed them.

"No more Deities! You are going to convince our eldest this is normal at this rate!" End hissed in disapproval, already knowing it was too late to dissuade Star sighing when he was ignored before also looking over Star and summoning magic in his hand for them to 'eat'.

"...there is more in your family?~" Oneiro said in a slightly strangled tone, unsure what he was listening to but at least knew he did not want to know more.

"They have been eating well... and they ate some of the magic of my home when they needed it" Hearth sighed, he was actually just done and Star had only been here one day.

"And they didn't collapse or glitch anything? Good job, Star! You are really learning self restraint." End cooed proudly at his youngest, the babybones purring while munching on his fifth plate.

Oneiro was kind of looking forward to them leaving as the more they spoke the more he realised that this was Star 'playing nice'.

Origin looked contemplatively at Hearth, wondering if they provided babysitting services.

"No" Hearth said recognizing the look "Not when he keeps trying to rewrite or eat my island and wards. You know what... I think its time you two and I... had a small talk"

He looked at Oneiro then dragged End and Origin off, it was time for them to get a parenthood talk as they were clearly missing some of there marbles... more then even Oneiro had.

------

"I'm pretty sure you have some fans now.~" Oneiro teased when Hearths phone buzzed yet again, trying to guess of it was Pale or the odd duo from before.

Hearth sighed seeing it was Origin, the talk had gone... well.

He doubted they'd get to Oneiro's level of stable for awhile. It was sad when Oneiro level of insanity was considered stable. Hearth could live with it though, and his house mate was getting better all the time.

"No, no and no" he hissed, as the babysitting request.

Once Star was gone he'd slept like the dead, and a lot less tired and rushed he'd finally fixed the wards to Star proofing them.

As far as he knew anyway.

"Pale I can deal with, he remembers everything I explain" he replied finally.

"I don't think I've ever met an Ink that was so lively before.~" Oneiro couldnt think of another word that adequately explained what Origin was like, thinking he could have mistaken them for a Destroyer type with how they acted at points.

"One of the stranger ones at least" he said turning his phone off, not wanting to deal with the Duo's insanity this early.

"The strangest by far..by the way. Where did all the mugs go? I couldn't find any this morning.~" Oneiro had been very confused this morning not to find a single one, wondering if Hearth had been doing some spring cleaning.

A ticked off expression briefly covered Hearths face "Clearly the visiting Code breaker stole them before he left"

Oneiro thought it best not to bring up how they looked to be down a few plates as well, unsure if he had ever seen Hearth so annoyed before.

He quietly made them a tea and put it in front of them, feeling very lucky he hadn't been the one that had to deal with Stars 'messes'.

"At least I saved my tea cups" he said drinking said tea like a life line, he'd only had to protect them with wards. But his tea cups were very old, they couldn't be replaced as the place they came from didn't exist anymore.

"The little black hole truly ate everything. I never knew Paperjam types could be like that before.~" Oneiro had only met a few in his time and none of them were like that.

"Be glad" Hearth said, trying not to remember past traumas and meetings with certain types.

The silence was soon broken by Karma running being followed by Nix and Thanatos, the three gone as quickly as they appeared without saying a word.

"It's adorable how well they get along.~" Oneiro said, even if he was still occasionally dive-bombed by Thanatos and had his feathers pulled if he got too close.

"I forgot how happy a Cross type could be once freed of there roles, I'm sad I had to remove them from monster form but Cross types never get a childhood so a Crow works and as a familiar as Thanatos he won't be dying any time soon" Hearth hummed "But weird to have a familiar that was once a monster, but he's enjoying it"

"Suits your aesthetic.~" Oneiro joked but the happiness he could sense in the home made his instincts purr happily, his Guardian role completely satisfied for once.

"I guess, you two usually see me lean more into the creative side or emotion magic" Hearth grinned.

"It is often heard to remember you have other types of magic.~" Oneiro had mainly seen them use the other types but after witnessing the sheer power of their Death magic form he could see why they didn't bring it out often.

"Did, you ever notice there are no Reaper Destroyers, And that the Reapers get weaker every new generation of Multiverses" Hearth said with a far off gaze.

"I had noticed that they don't tend to put up as much of a fight.~" Oneiro said thoughtfully, having thought he had just been overly hard to Reaper types after dealing with Karmas past parent.

"Once upon a time, Reapers were Death in all ways with a mortal type form. Like my papa" Hearth said fondly "If threatened, he could wipe all life in seconds in our multiverse.. he never did of course. Nowadays Reapers only have access to mortal type forms and the gates, they can no longer go to the Sea of SOULS themselves."

He took a sip of tea thoughtfully.

"Yet... Deities realized the deathbringers were too powerful, they would not play their games with them as the Deaths could take them out in a way they couldn't even return to the sea" here a nasty grin covered his face, FATE had learned that first hand.

"Thus, all Reapers and Grims past the first Omniverse were.. reduced... a lot. They can't become Destroyers, because they fear it will boost them up to the past levels and able to take out the puppet masters" he said with a snort.

"I bet they won't forget you anytime soon.~" Oneiro smiled with all his teeth, wishing he was more surprised by the Deities actions but he knew how people could act when faced with something that scared them.

"I assume Karma will have inherited some of that power from you?~" He only saw it as a good thing for Karma to have more options to be able to defend themselves, irritated that even had to be a thing he needed to think about.

"Not quite the same level, but he'll be insanely powerful little Deathling. The power will take awhile to kick in, FATES meddling actually caused the power delay. Trust me you'll know when it starts affecting him, before he starts being ready to head out I'm going to give him some lessons he'll need that the Reapers now adays can't do" Hearth hummed.

"I'm sure that will be fun for him.~" to say Karma enjoyed lessons with Hearth would be putting it lightly, the babybones a voracious learner, truly adorable to watch.

"While we're here, you might want to start training Karma on your Emotion magic. Its not strong yet, but I've felt echos of it growing in the last week" Hearth grinned.

"It's growing quite nicely. I don't think they've noticed how they've been able to guess my mood much better lately.~" Oneiro thought Karma would take to Emotion magic rather well and couldn't wait to show them all the tricks he had learned over the years.

"I... might have to train my own magic a bit" he said embarrassed.

"..you having some slips?~" Oneiro felt that was the most diplomatic way to put the random bursts of emotion magic he had felt lately but dismissed as Hearth doing some project.

"Not with my normal powers" Hearth said with a blush "I had to eat FATES SOUL to stop her in all ways, where did you think the power would go?"

Oneiro winced and gave them a look of sympathy, knowing getting used to any sudden power boost could be an utter pain.

"Will your training room be able to withstand you training in it?~"He asked genuinely curious, pretty sure the boost from eating a Deity wouldn't be small.

"It will, FATE was the first SOUL I ever had to eat. But I couldn't chance someone playing with time to bring them back like she did with 404" he admitted, the 404 now Bitty was doing quite well now.

Oneiro was relieved by that on multiple levels, glad there was no chance FATE would be able to come back but also glad Hearth wouldn't have to leave their home, Karma still being a bit twitchy when either of them left the babybones sensing range.

"The Bitty colony has really been helping Karma. They were even talking about a few clubs they had made with the Creator bitties.~" The socialisation was vital and with Karma not keen on leaving the in between yet they still needed to talk to other monsters.

"I think the Error's, are just glad that neither Destroyers nor Creators have full access to there powers like before. My magic powers the area, which means the Inks don't need paint to function" he hummed, it was part of the function that allowed the colonies to survive without a normal monster supporting them all meaning they lived normal lives.

Just a lot smaller in size.

"But still, Karma should enjoy himself" he grinned, and then pushed a notepad over to Oneiro filled with adjustments for the size ward for Guests to the Bitty room they wanted to install. He knew Karma would love to be able to go small in that room.

"I'll get to that.~" Oneiro looked through the list, pulling out a pen and scribbling some possible solutions, looking forward to seeing Karmas reaction when they finally added the ward to the Bitty room.

"It just leave this possible issue with the ward, the one keeping us from completing it" Hearth scowled, even if all of Oneiro fixes this one issue would keep it from being completed.

Oneiro grimaced at the reminder, it was rather out of his scope of knowledge but it was still annoying how it was keeping them from completing the surprise for Karma.

"Still no luck?~" It felt like they fixed one issue and a new one cropped up, slashing through one of his solutions when he realised that would bring the whole ward down.

"Not really, probably something stupid simple to make it work. We are afterall creating a new ward type" he huffed amused.

"I'm sure it will come to us.~" Oneiro shrugged, rather enjoying the challenge even if it could frustrating at times, crossing out another problem Hearth listed when he found a work around to it.

"How about we work on the other seasonal areas to take a break, pretty sure we'd all enjoy a beach area for summer" Hearth grinned.

"That would be nice. I look forward to the spring area finally being done as well.~" Oneiro put away his scribbled plans it looking rather messy and feeling a break would be perfect right now and followed Hearth out of the room.

Instead they got the fall area done, well at least Karma enjoyed the new area.

------

"I think we need to refine it, so it doesn't turn on automatically" Hearth said a bit confused, as the ward had activated by itself. He had been caught in it, Oneiro had not.

"You we're too tall already, now your giant" Hearth pouted currently bitty size.

"You are absolutely tiny.~" Oneiro smiled, crouching down to get on a better level with them while checking the ward to see what actually went wrong.

"Hmm, seems it's not as smooth as expected. I wonder why it's so glitchy..?~" He mumbled while thoughtfully looking at the latest Code they added to the ward, still proud they had even achieved this even if it wasn't perfect quite yet.

"At least we're in a sealed workroom, lets reverse it" Hearth giggled, enjoying the ability to walk on the table to the ward.

Oneiro wrote down a few ideas, placing it on the table so Hearth could see and rather amused to realise they were shorter then the pen he was using.

"I can feel your amusement" Hearth said giving him an artic glare, as he did have emotion magic also.

Oneiro innocently smiled while holding a pen next to them, his guess right when he saw they were only half the size of it.

"I don't think I've ever seen a Bitty so small.~" He thought that they might not 'make' them this small due to how 'delicate Bitties could be normally, smile briefly faltering when he recalled the reason why there were so few Bitty AU's out there.

"I actually have... well a Bitty me out there you know, little Iris. He lives with a Fresh404 as their little brother, did you know... if that multiverse wasn't so deadly magically wise to me I would have stayed. The best I could do, was create an extension of myself as a Bitty. He has his own life of course. You won't find other bitty Me's out there of course," Hearth hummed, then made an aha noise as he corrected the error and returned to normal size.

"A bitty version of you? How surprising.~" Oneiro thought Hearth had a wild life, twitching at the idea of a Fresh404 and trying to imagine what they would be like.

He was selfishly glad they hadn't been able to stay in the other multiverse though, doubtful Karmas life would have gone as smoothly otherwise.

"Alright, I think we have it this time.. lets rerun the tests" Hearth hummed "I don't regret it though, I met Karma which I wouldn't if I stayed"

Oneiro smiled in approval at their answer, glad they were on the same page before focusing his full attention on the ward again.

He sent a spark of magic to it and felt himself shrink, doing the same action and going back to normal size.

"It looks to be working as planned.~"

A startled giggle escaped Hearth "Stars... its weird seeing you so tiny, right lets stress test it now"

The next few hours were spent extensively testing the new ward before either were satisfied it was safe enough for Karma to use.

Karma was occupied with the Bitties once again, the babybones growing more confident and now able to spend longer periods of time without seeing either of the adults without panicking.

That night, after Karma was snoozing away in the nest of Hearth's blanket for bedtime the two set the new ward up.

"I can't wait to see his face and reaction, he knows the Bitties will never hurt him and soon he'll be able to hug them. I think his Bitties will be thrilled" Hearth said excitedly.

"I bet we won't see them for a solid week once the Bitties see them so small.~" Oneiro was going to take alot of photos, betting the sight would be utterly adorable.

"Guess we'll just have to be small also to see everything" Hearth said, then finally headed to bed himself.

------

"Well, this was an excellent idea.~" Oneiro had underestimated how much Karma would love the new ward, the babybones near constantly visiting the Bitty colony.

He snorted how the two familiars often kept watch over the entire interaction as well, Nix laying by the door with Thanatos on a high up ledge to have a better vantage point.

"Definitely, but.. sooner or later we have to arrange trips off the island. Its not healthy to stay here. It's one thing for the Bitty's, but Karmas mental health will need it" Hearth hummed.

"A small trip would be good. Suggest taking their Bitties along? They also haven't seen Pale in a while.~" Oneiro thought out loud, knowing this was going to be Karmas biggest hurdle so far but they couldn't just allow Karma to isolate themselves for the rest of their lives.

"That would work, and would allow me to train myself without worrying Karma will walk in" Hearth hummed, as the training room muted his presence and Karma kept panicking every time he tried.

"Some point later this week?~" Oneiro suggested, Nix meowing expectantly at his to show they would not be left behind.

"Maybe Saturday, a set time so Karma doesn't feel he has to go wandering" he suggested.

"Might be able to make it a half day with some distractions in place. Gives you some time for practice.~" Oneiro wasnt delusional and knew this would be a long process, hoping to build up to at least weekly outings.

"We can arrange a picnic, I'll even send a marble of condensed magic for Pale so he can focus on Karma" Hearth said. Already planning what to send in the basket.

"Template has made a new AU since we last met. They haven't filled it with monsters yet but it could be ideal for Karma.~" Oneiro usually muted any messages from Template due to the practical essays they kept sending everyday but some of the information was useful.

"I'll leave it to you to contact them" Hearth grinned, then zoomed off to follow Karma. The last questions from Pale, had been.. freaking weird even for him.

Oneiro stayed where he was by the door, thoughtfully watching it all and soon became a climbing post for Nix and a perch for Thanatos.

Karma giggled while he watched 404 scold an unrepentant Ink about marking their house too sparkly, cuddling up to Sunny and loving how he could be the same size as his friends now.

Everyone knew when Sora spotted Hearth, as their squeal of shock and excitement was heard everywhere.

Somewhere near, a hug of blueness was happening and there was no escape.

Karma was soon in a hug with Blot and Azure as well, watching how Hearth was practically smothered by Sora and giggling very amused.

Sunny rested his head on top of Karmas, it nice being able to hold them for once and pleased how much happier they were nowadays.

He never imagined his life would lead to here, now having his own home and living with so many of his kind without the fear of danger.

Sora soon carried Hearth over, looking very smug at able to hold him. "Hi I'm Sora, had to get my hug in due to an evil child and a time loop we briefly shared an existence."

"Time loops aren't fun." Karma nodded seriously and felt Sunny squeeze him a bit tighter, looking between Sora and Hearth in curiosity.

"Like brother Goth and Palette?" He didn't know that could happen, betting that was why the two looked so close right now.

"Not exactly" Hearth responded.

"Frisk killed our multiverse, only our AU existed" Sora said face tightening in memories "They killed us in a way we wouldn't come back in a RESET, so they would kidnap monsters to be.. bodies. I got lucky with Hearth, there SOUL supported me and I stabilized. For a brief bit my SOUL was partially merged with his, but not like Goth and Palette. He saved everyone, even our Chara.. he even managed to grab the other victims Frisk grabbed that still lived. Which is why out city had some you don't normally see in a swap"

"SOUL?" Karma said thoughtfully, before lightbulb seem to go off in his mind.

"Like when brother was pregnant with me?" He asked innocently, very proud of his 'deduction' and chirping in confusion when Sunny began shaking.

"Karma, you were sealed! Sealed! I was not pregnant" Hearth cried, just so done with it.

Karma was not one to be easily convinced and ignored brothers silly explanation, happily chatting with Sora instead and asking many questions.

"I even met his aspects, apparently whatever Frisk did allowed them to separate briefly to help me." Sora told Karma, truly amused by Karma's 'pregnancy' story.

"No idea how to have a repeat, I'd like to meet this Celestial and Infernal" Hearth sighed, still grumbled he hadn't been pregnant.

"That would be cool. Then I'd get to meet everyone!" Karma listened intently when Sora described the two aspects, his eyelight turning to a star and a tad disappointed he hadn't met them when he was inside brothers SOUL.

"I think I may be able to talk to them soon, I noticed that after..." he blushed not wanting to mention the eating of the SOUL, it was embarrassing "My mind was a bit different, I think those gold and orange gems you liked in my mind were a link to them Karma"

Karma had really liked the gems, having asked brother to make some replicas once he left their SOUL which he kept in his room.

"I would like that." He chirped excitedly, happy to meet more parts of Hearth.

"Well excuse me as I steal Hearth, I'll see you later" Sora smirked, then vanished as only a Blue could.

Karma waved goodbye and soon found himself in one of the Ink Bitties arms, laughing in delight when they began running as fast as they could.

"Hey! Get back here!" Sunny screeched, quietly cursing as he ran to follow them.

"Faster!" Karma squealed in excitement, loving the sudden surprise game of tag and giggling at the faces his three friends were making.

------

"You two have fun on the picnic" Hearth said grinning, passing a happy Karma the picnic basket.

"Dad said Pale was going to be there and we can have ice cream." Karma had initially been wary but Nix was coming along and with all the things dad had planned he couldn't help but start to feel excited.

"Thanatos will be there also, so he'll keep an eye on you also in case you need me" Hearth grinned, The Death crow gave a sound from Hearths shoulder.

Karma looked a bit more comforted at the reassurance, giggling when the crow went to his shoulder and butted their head against his.

"You got everything, Karma?~" Oneiro said gently while forming a portal, spotting the rainbow bear plushy in their arms with the three Bittys popping their heads out of Karmas scarf.

Karma nodded and held onto dads hand, giving a brief glance to brother before stepping through the portal.

Hearth stared for a moment as the portal closed, then headed inside to train.

~~~~~~~

Star: *Dropping into a very secure area and eating all the cutlery* Nice food!

Hearth: *Staring dumbfounded and near frantically checking the wards* This place is secure! How is this happening?!

Oneiro: *Sensing this will be trouble and mentally preparing himself* One day I will get a break, one day~

-

Star: *Poking the wards with little care every time they change* This is a great game!

Hearth: *Having a concerning twitch in his eye as he tries to keep his island in tact* How are you causing any of this?!

-

Origin and End: *Standing there and saying near unhinged things*

Oneiro: *Staring in unwilling awe at the level of insanity* I feel so sane next to them~

Hearth: *Eye twitch growing more concerning*

-

*Testing the Bitty ward*

Hearth: *Accidentally becoming tiny*

Oneiro: *A giant on good days and looking at the glitching ward in confusion*..I'm going to say that we haven't got it quite right yet~

-

Sora: *Explaining how his SOUL was briefly merged with Hearth's*

Karma: *Having another lightbulb moment and connecting the completely wrong dots* So like when brother was pregnant with me! I didn't know he was pregnant twice!

Hearth: *Dying of mortification, his words falling on deaf ears* You were sealed Karma and I was never pregnant!

-

Karma: *Stacked with protection charms, two fussy familiars and three Bitties* Are we still going on the picnic?

Oneiro: *Truly expecting the picnic to go fine but still adding another charm just in case* It will be fun~

Hearth: *Sticking a few more trackers on Karma as a contingency* You will have a great time