Tangled In Strings

Chapter 15: Date!

It started with a table.

A single, crooked, floating table in the middle of the old, overgrown dining room of Snatcher’s once-grand manor. Moonjumper stood in the doorway, arms folded, mask fixed but flickering at the edges.

“...What is this supposed to be?” he asked slowly.

Snatcher grinned too wide. “A date.”

“A what?”

“You know! Fancy time! Romantic nonsense! You sit, I pretend to cook, we both pretend we aren’t emotionally stunted—fun!”

Moonjumper blinked. “I thought you were joking.”

“I never joke about romance.”

“You once turned a bouquet into a screaming ghost flower.”

“And you still kissed me.”

Moonjumper gave a long-suffering sigh—but stepped into the room anyway.

---

✦ The Haunted Dining Room ✦

The mansion creaked around them like it remembered being alive. Moss and stardust dusted the once-opulent chandelier. A candelabra lit itself on fire halfway through Snatcher’s dramatic gesture.

“I cooked!” Snatcher declared.

“That’s toast.”

“It’s spooky toast!”

“It has a face.”

“He’s called Greg.”

Moonjumper stared at the charred slice. “Greg is melting.”

Snatcher pouted. “Okay fine, I summoned food. Like a gentleman.”

With a snap of his fingers, the toast vanished and was replaced with a surprisingly elegant spread: glowing root vegetables, spectral fruit, and shimmering starberries from Moonjumper’s realm.

Moonjumper blinked. “...You remembered I like these.”

Snatcher coughed, suddenly sheepish. “You mentioned it… once. Casually. In passing.”

Moonjumper smirked. “Stalker.”

“Shut up and eat your romance salad.”

---

✦ Candles and Confessions ✦

They sat. They ate. It was quiet.

Mostly because Snatcher was very bad at being normal.

“So,” he said, waving his wineglass full of something probably cursed, “if we weren’t cursed, haunted, and morally questionable—what would we be doing right now?”

Moonjumper tilted his head. “Probably trying to kill each other.”

“Still kind of hot.”

“You’re the worst.”

Snatcher grinned—but it faltered. Just a little. His gaze drifted down to the table.

“...Do you think this is real?” he asked quietly. “This thing between us. Or just… leftover magic?”

Moonjumper paused. The room held its breath.

“It’s real,” he said at last. “Which is why it’s terrifying.”

Snatcher let out a slow exhale. “Yeah. Terrifying sounds right.”

There was a silence between them—thick but not cold. Soft. Unspoken things passed like shadows in the candlelight.

Then—

CLANK.

Both snapped their heads to the ceiling.

A single, wide-eyed child with a grappling hook was now hanging upside-down from the chandelier, munching popcorn.

“ARE YOU GUYS GONNA KISS AGAIN OR WHAT.”

“HAT KID,” they shouted in unison.

---

✦ After the Chaos ✦

Once the chandelier stopped swinging and Hat Kid was firmly exiled (with extra ghost toast for the road), the room settled again.

Moonjumper stood by the window, looking up at the still-cracked moon. Snatcher joined him, quieter now.

“I thought dates were supposed to fix things,” Snatcher muttered.

Moonjumper shook his head. “They don’t fix. But they remind you why you want to.”

He turned, pulling Snatcher close by his collar.

“For the record,” Moonjumper said, “I’d kiss you again. Even if you serve me toast ghosts.”

Snatcher blinked, heart skipping something unnatural.

“Greg would be so proud,” he whispered.

Moonjumper kissed him.

---

✦ End Scene ✦

They didn’t fix the forest that night.

They didn’t fix themselves.

But they laughed. They kissed. They held each other in the ruins and made it feel like home.

And somewhere, far above the cracked moon and tangled trees, a Rift still pulsed—but it would wait.

Tonight was for them.