Archive of Our Own ^beta

"Beautiful, aren't they?" a raven-haired man sighed, watching colored explosions erupt in the sky above him.

Next to him was a blue ghost, which would normally send people running and screaming, or pulling out their phones and posting him on their Instagram stories. But the ravenette was not phased by the sight, not just because he was a Hot Topic loyalist.

The two worked together on an adult film months prior (to put it simply, there was a pizza, the Shield of Flames, and a lot of... stuff), with the ghost as a director. But he was not any director.

He was the acclaimed and well-known Morty. Whether he was alive and dead, he was famous for his works, as well as his desire to experiment with different genres.

Darios, on the other hand, was the crown prince of a dead country, because it do be like that sometimes. With both of his parents being deceased and his friends nowhere in sight, he wandered in search of a new life. It led him through the likes of Dairy Queen, Hot Topic, and, eventually, a casting call for a movie. He didn't expect the film to be of the calibur that it was, but he was nonetheless honored to work with a famous director weeks after ending up in a strange, foreign dimension.

After filming the movie, Darios was honored again when the director asked to spend some time with him walking through the woods of California. The former prince agreed, and that's where they ended up.

Of course, neither of them expected the sky to look like doomsday.

"I-I don't think they're beautiful, exactly," Morty replied. "I mean, if they were fireworks, they would be."

Darios turned to Morty in shock. "What are fireworks? And, if they're not that, then what are they?"

"I'm not sure. Lemme check any news updates on Facebook." Morty pulled out a cell phone from gods know where.

"Facebook?"

Morty sighed and looked at Darios. "You must have lived a sad life back at home." He looked back at his phone and sighed again. "Of course."

"What happened?"

"Gender reveal party." Morty took a quick picture of the sky and posted it onto his Facebook.

Darios was even more baffled. "I'm... I'm not even going to ask."

Suddenly a gasp was heard from behind them, followed by a series of clicks.

"Don't turn around," Morty firmly instructed.

"Why, what's happening?"

"Paparazzi," he explained. "I'm hoping they're just taking photos of the sky."

"Ayo, Morty! Is that your boyfriend?" a voice from behind them called, the clicking noises continuing to go off.

Morty sighed. "Shit." He side glanced at Darios. "Follow me, as fast as you can." He quickly took off, and the Gristonnian pursued him. Behind them came the sound of several people running, along with more clicks and shutters.

"SERIOUSLY, THE SKY IS ON FIRE RIGHT NOW BECAUSE OF A BABY, AND YOU CARE ABOUT US MORE?" Morty shouted, not bothering to look back. "I'M BOTH FLATTERED AND DISAPPOINTED."

Darios could feel his sides begin to burn. "HEY! LOOK! THE FOREST OVER THERE IS STARTING TO CATCH FIRE!" he pointed to his right.

He could hear the paparazzi slow down and murmur to themselves. With that, he bolted to his left and sped off, managing to catch up with Morty.

"I think we've lost th-"

Darios tripped over a log and fell into the river flowing next to it.

Morty gasped. "Darios!" Being a ghost, he was scared that if he tried to rescue Darios, he would slip through the man's body. "It's worth a shot," he told himself, and tugged at his hand.

He made contact.

The ghost pulled Darios up. "Oh my goodness, are you okay?!" he gasped.

"I guess. Why, do I have something on my face?"

"No," Morty said. "I just- I didn't want any of this to happen. No paparazzi, falling into a river, or... I cannot even describe the fires."

Darios nodded. "Nobody can."

The two remained there in silence. I was gonna write that "they stood there", but Morty can't stand, so yeah.

I'm crying I'm shaking Morty can't be a JoJo character.

"If you feel uncomfortable with the possibility of undergoing these kind of situations, I won't force you to go out with me."

"And if I want to go with you?" Darios asked.

Morty blushed, somehow. Can ghosts blush? I'm not putting that on my Google search, man. I've looked up so many weird things and I'm not ready to add more.

"Y...You know the only way we can really be together is if you became a ghost too, right?" Morty replied.

Darios nodded. "Whatever it takes. You've done so much for me, I'll follow you anywhere you go."

"Well, uh," said Morty. "How're we gonna do it?"

The former prince shrugged. "We'll figure it out on our own."

Then they held hands and walked off towards the unnervingly red sky.

Yeah I'm not writing Darios dying, I can't go through with him dying on screen again.

We've lost so much in 2020. I just can't.