Chapter Text
A lost Mana drops into the Daycare. Mana is from The one that never left by Firehedgehog
Mana was not sure how they ended here, they didn't even have Guardians. The tiny Ink mewed, having quickly hidden in a shelving area trying to think of a way to escape. He kept his ears and tail away, as the other children seemed fascinated about them.
This weird 'daycare' seemed to block portals and shortcuts, weirdo Toriel seemed to block his escapes so far thrilled at a Tiny Ink child.
So well behaved.
Also, why were the other adults celebrating The Sun not coming that day. It was sunny out, it was already there.
This place was weeeeeeird.
”You arent a kitty. Why did abomination say there was..?” A voice spoke up next to them, startling the poor stressed out Ink who nearly fell off the shelf.
Star looked on in growing confusion, chewing a spoon while looking at the..’Creator’? He wasnt sure what they were, spotting abomination Toriel ran past while calling his name but ignored it to see who this was.
"Cuz I can become a kitty, my names Mana" Mana said adjusting his position, which meant Star now had room to join them up there.
Star happily joined them on the shelf, the two small babybones fitting snugly in the narrow space and giving them a perfect view of the room.
“Im Star! I cant become a kitty yet but that could be fun. Want a plate?” He happily offered, taking one out to chew on and knew from Creators rules that sharing food was a great way to make friends!
"Sure" Mana said, he looked at it for a moment then ate it. He'd learned from daddy how to eat dishes and other things, mama Blue had not been impressed.
Star was very pleased his new friend had good taste, munching through another few plates, his bracelet jingling with every movement.
“Want to have some fun, Mana?” He was very proud how good he was getting at names but could still fall back onto past habits without reminders puzzled why the staff were running around the room like headless chickens.
The staff were all frantically searching for the two babybones, someone realising they had no records of one of them and with Star nowhere to be found panic started to set in.
Noone wanted to tell the crazy mated pair they lost their child, a few in tears that they hadn’t been allowed to take the day off when they saw who was to be admitted today.
"How so?" Mana asked curious, he really didn't know how to play with other children. As with his parents there had been none his age, and when he was stuck in adult bones that would have been a no go anyway. And after.. he'd been nowhere in the right mental state, he did want to play with Fable one day.
“Don't worry. I can show you all the best games!” Star said eagerly, eyeshape changing to a star as he whispered all the options they could pick from.
Star was enthusiastic and sincere in their efforts to teach Mana but they also hadnt had the most normal childhood so had a very skewed idea of ‘play’.
It didnt help that they took advice from a feral Broomy and thought Fresh had great ideas, it truly reflected in all the games they played.
The staff felt an odd shiver go down their spine, wondering why they all felt the sudden need to go to the specialty built bunkers that had been created after Sun’s last visited.
It didn't help, that Mana was a fully fledged Creator an Ink.
With sometimes a cat thought process, which meant as long as it didn't bother him he was fine.
Which meant, Mana was a horrible thing for Star to meet. Mana was a good child, but still very very innocent.
Lucy had been excited to start working at the Daycare. She had been surprised how quickly they accepted her application and the number of contracts she had to sign had seemed a bit excessive but the pay was very generous and she adored children.
The cat monster wasnt sure why some of the staff had looked at her intently before muttering something about ‘it being a sign’?
It was all very confusing and the many shrines scattered around the place were also puzzling but shrugged it off as a workplace quirk. She had expected many things working here but seeing an animated LEGO, shaped like a tiger, bouncing around the room, was not on her list at all.
Nor was the confetti raining from the ceiling that let out a loud ‘bang’ when it hit the ground.
“What…?” She muttered faintly, soon distracted by that odd sight when she felt a tugging on her sleeve and looked down to see a Paperjam babybones.
“..you look soft. Come for nap time, kitty abomination.” She was so startled she let herself be dragged to a corner and somehow ended up on a pile of cushions with two babybones napping near her.
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Mana yawned and rubbed his eyes, the nap had been good.
The daycare was rather quiet, as the day was coming to its end. He also knew it meant Star would be leaving soon, likely he’d be able to leave himself soon.
Star yawned as he sat up, seeing some of his cute bitey plants still nearby and pleased at how pretty their tiger came out.
One day he would get better at making larger living things, his creations tending to explode in glitter or disappear after a few hours.
It was a good thing he met Mana today who could help with his games!
"Is that your adopted parents?" Mana asked, pointing towards the entrance.
”Parents?” Star muttered in confusion, looking over where they pointed and suddenly understanding what they meant.
“Oh no. Those are just Creator and Destroyer. They follow me a lot and feed me. They are nice.” He waved to the two monsters, humming as he looked at the confusing numbers Mana was surrounded in.
“You need help leaving? There is a gap in the wards you can easily slip through.” He still had no clue what wards were but numbers he could easily deal with, giggling as he poked the numbers and made them wobbly violently before cracking.
"Can you show me, I... don't know how to do wards yet?" Mana asked brightening "Also... adoptive parents would be Creator and Destroyer as they have taken parental roles with you.. "
Star titled his head in confusion and squinted his eyes at the numbers overlapping Origin and End, realising they did in fact have a parental title there…
Maybe it was for his brother!
With the mystery solved he began showing Mana something much simpler only in his opinion explaining which numbers to poke and which to leave alone unless they wanted lots of ‘fun’ things to happen. He held their hand and showed them how to tweak the right numbers, dragging their hand down into seemingly empty air but was in fact making a ‘door’ in the wards for them to use.
Star much preferred eating the numbers but his new friend seemed to prefer doing it the ‘fancy way’.
“Understand?” He asked, this topic something he was great at even if he didnt always have the words to describe what he was doing.
Mana nodded happily, he loved learning new things.
"This is for you, I hope we meet again" Mana said creating Star a cute little charm bracelet, the singular charm on it was a crystal in the shape of a monster soul. It said friends forever. He'd tweaked the Codes for both when he created it, so that the Codes said non edible even for Star.
Star cooed happily at the new shiny, adding the bracelet to join the other one and giggling at how pretty they both were.
“Here! You can have this.” He held out books that he didnt have much interest in but he hoped his new friend would like them, as he still wasnt the best at making items that didnt tend to try and bite.
He of course added a pile of plates and a few forks to the pile, just in case they got hungry.
"Good luck with the parents Star" Mana said hugging Star, then slipped through the wards before someone tried to grab him or adopt him.
Star waved and was soon picked up by Origin, cuddling up to the purring Creator and feeling close to napping again despite just waking up.
“Heh, seems like they had a good day. This truly is the best Daycare we’ve found. Might have to use it more often.” End grinned as he nuzzled the babybones, ignoring the whimpering from the cat monster and creating a portal to leave with his mate.
“Have a great day. Come again soon.” Toriel said chirpily, the rest of the staff chasing the still animated LEGO tiger which suddenly pounced onto a bookcase and caused it to tilt dangerously.
It was never a dull day at Daycare…
