Moonjumper felt like half a puppet stuffed with fog and regret.
His body still ached. His strings were tangled. His voice kept cracking like a haunted record. But he was awake, dammit—and that counted for something.
“I’m fine,” he grumbled.
“You sneezed out a moth,” Snatcher deadpanned.
Moonjumper glared from the comfort of a nest made of blankets, spell-thread, and...a few legally binding documents. Snatcher hovered nearby, arms crossed, floating slightly higher than normal to look more “official.”
“You’re banned from dramatic exits, dimension-hopping, moonlight dueling, and ‘getting up too fast’ until further notice.”
“You’re not my boss.”
“I literally own your resting spot. That makes me your landlord.”
Moonjumper sighed. “I miss when we were enemies.”
“You still are. Just romantically.”
---
✦ “Healing Soup” ✦
Snatcher had a plan. That plan was soup.
Sort of.
“I summoned the finest ingredients from across the forest!” he proclaimed, floating a bowl dramatically.
“That’s just a glowing mushroom, a piece of moss, and—is that a tooth?”
“An herbal tooth.”
Moonjumper stared.
The soup hissed.
“It’s got spirit-healing properties!” Snatcher insisted.
“It has legs.”
Hat Kid entered, took one look, and said, “That thing moved. I’m calling it Steve.”
“STEVE THE SOUP,” Snatcher bellowed.
Moonjumper groaned and covered his face with his sleeve. “I’m going to die, aren’t I?”
“Not on my watch!” Snatcher declared. “Not until we kiss dramatically under moonlight at least one more time!”
---
✦ Hat Kid’s Version of Help ✦
Hat Kid tried to “assist.” She brought:
A glowing time piece.
A heat pack that exploded.
A card that said “Get Better or Else.”
Moonjumper blinked at her.
“Where did you even find this?”
“Time. And also a dumpster.”
“I believe both.”
Snatcher tried to shoo her out, but she stayed—drawing Sharpie eyebrows on a passed-out ghost and singing her “healing song” which involved kazoo solos and off-key humming.
“This isn’t helping,” Snatcher hissed.
“Yes it is,” she said, “Moonjumper just smiled.”
Moonjumper was, indeed, smiling—tired, pale, but genuinely amused.
“She’s weird. I like her.”
“Ugh. You’re both cursed.”
---
✦ Soft Moments in the Chaos ✦
Later, when Hat Kid had fallen asleep on a floating chair and the soup finally stopped growling, Moonjumper leaned against Snatcher’s side.
His glow was returning—faint but steady.
“You worried me,” Snatcher said, softer now. “You almost unraveled.”
Moonjumper looked up at him.
“You stitched me back together,” he murmured. “Even if you used bad soup and sarcasm.”
Snatcher rolled his eyes, but his hand hovered near Moonjumper’s—just barely brushing.
“You’re the only dramatic theater nerd I’d drag through death twice,” Snatcher mumbled.
“Flatterer.”
“Shut up and drink your Steve.”
Moonjumper laughed—and for the first time in days, it didn’t hurt.
---
✦ End Scene ✦
The forest was quiet. The cracked moon still hung above, but its light felt warmer somehow.
Snatcher curled beside Moonjumper in the too-large nest of blankets, pretending it wasn’t terrifying to care this much. Moonjumper let himself rest, surrounded by chaos and love and ghost-soup that may or may not have developed sentience.
They were healing.
Slowly. Stupidly.
Together.
YOU ARE READING
Tangled In Strings
FanfictionA HAT IN TIME Fanfiction with Snatcher & Moonjumper! This is a semi spicy zesty rom com!
