Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Ding.

Scarab had gotten an alert that a certain Wishmaster was failing to attend to his Crossover alert. He had wanted to take down the Wishmaster for centuries; waiting for the incompetent god to slip up. I suppose I might as well pay the Wishmaster a visit… He thought, seeing as the oh so loved Prismo had been ignoring his duties. Scarab made his way to the floating yellow cube only to find the doors were closed — which was new considering Prismo had an 'Open door policy'. Strange… The God auditor tapped on the side of the large cube with his cane, a gentle knock vibrating its way inside the cube.

This earned a faint "Just a minute!" echoing from inside the cube. Scarab waited a minute or so before the cube doors opened. The auditor scuttled inside, slight beetle-like noises emitting under his breath; just low enough to not be heard unless you were really paying attention. Scarab often made noises like this but would make sure to keep them quiet and brief, as he found the noises he made embarrassing and as a sign of weakness on his part.

"Scarab! Heyyy,” The pink entity seemed on edge. "Curious… I always thought you had an open door policy, ‘everybody’s pal Prismo’." Scarab raised his cane pointing at the projection while rolling his R’s. Prismo raised his arms in defense, causing the red beetle lower his cane. "Hey thats me…” Prismo chuckled nervously, lowering his arms. “Well, what brings you here, Scrabby?" The auditor scoffed at the nickname, huffing a response under his breath. "Nobody calls me that anymore," He scoffed, crossing his arms in distaste. "I was just passing through the neighbourhood, making a delivery to the Judgement hall, when I got an alert..." He squinted, raising his cane back up to point at the Wishmaster. "About you."

Prismo gasped which wasn't fooling anyone… At least it wasn’t fooling Scarab. "Me?" Prismo's insincere tone sent aggressive shivers down Scarabs spine. "Your Universe Breach Alarm went off twice, and went ignored?" Scarab questioned skeptically. Prismo rubbed his chin before waving his arm. "Ohhh I just needed to change the batteries. Nothing for an important guy like you to worry about." He put his arms on his sides nonchalantly. "Yeah, everything in the Time Room is going great." His blue eye stared down at Scarab, almost as if they were searching for approval, in which he didn't find. The auditor walked toward another corner of the room. "Yeah, well, thanks for coming by. I know you're really busy, so.." Prismo said, avoiding any kind of eye contact.

Scarab tapped his cane against the floor a few times, eventually earning a satisfying hollow echo. "Prismo, it almost seems like you're trying to get rid of me.." The fear on Prismo’s face was enough proof that he had something to hide. "What? No, no! I love it when you stop by. Let's bro out! We can party like we used to." It was insulting that Prismo even suggested that he was one for partying. "I was never invited to parties." Scarab hissed, his words slick with hatred. "Well, time to fix that." The pink entity gave a toothy grin.

Scarab wondered about the Time Room as Prismo slipped into the jacuzzi, The idea of the Wishmaster even having a jacuzzi bothered Scarab. ‘Why have such a useless item when you cannot even feel water? He simply just projects himself onto the bottom of the tub.’ He thought, before finally deciding to play along. "What does ‘bro-ing out’ consist of?" He asked through air quotes. He was willing to play along if it meant he could squeeze information out of the simple minded projection. "Uhh I usually just chill in the jacuzzi and have some drinks while watching universes through the TV wall." This earned another scoff from Scarab. "What a waste of time."

Prismo had suddenly went awfully quiet. He was just sitting there, smiling. It was slightly unnerving. "How about shorts, huh?" The sudden words leaving the Wishmasters mouth made Scarab jump slightly. "What? What do you mean 'shorts'?" The Scarab’s eyes narrowed. The Wishmasters eyes widened and his mouth was ajar. "Y’know… uh, mortals? I call them 'shorts' because they're smaller than us… And their lives are really short." Prismo went silent again with that same unmoving look on his face. The Scarab began dipping his cane in the water of the jacuzzi which had both full and empty cans of beer floating on the surface. Prismo's eye followed the cane before he noticed a strange device floating within the mess, the Scarab fished it out with his cane, taking it into his hands and sniffing it. "Oh! That's mine." Prismo slithered out of the Jacuzzi nervously. Scarab could smell something strange on the device, picking at it until he found some cat hair. "Is this cat hair yours, too?" He picked it off in disgust. "I don't recall.." Prismo looked to the ceiling, scratching his chin. Scarab was done messing around. It was obvious Prismo was hiding something within the Time Room. Scarab began walking over to the corner where he stood previously. "I'd like to take a look around the cube and see if there are any more.. 'batteries' that need changing." He tapped his cane down once again earning the same hollow sound as before.

Prismo projected himself onto the floor where Scarab had been tapping "Come on Scrabby, be reasonable." the Wishmaster pleaded, earning a disgusted look from the auditor. "Prismo." A strange hissing noise was being made from the bug-like man "What’s that noise?" Prismo questioned. Scarab’s hissing had stopped after he realised he had accidentally made a noise too loud. "Nothing. Now move." Prismo smiled, seeming less anxious. "No, no Scrabby. I want to know what that noise was." Scarab cringed as Prismo projected his arm onto him, making him flinch. That was the first time Prismo had actually projected onto his body. Scarab could feel the warmth and pressure on his exoskeleton, he could feel light — he could even taste and smell it, and Prismo was made of entirely of it, causing this alarming feeling. "Do not touch me." He hissed out, making an almost clicking sound. "Woah! You can feel me, can't you Scrabby?" He slightly lowered his fingers over Scarabs exoskeleton, earning a soft chirping sound from the other. Prismo stared at his buggy visitor who was slightly shaking with anger. Scarab couldn't stand that he just made that sort of noise. He wanted to scuttle away. He wanted to get Prismo thrown into the incinerator. "Remove your hands at once." Scarab hissed. Prismo softly slipped his hands off of the auditor. "Sorry, didn't know you were so sensitive," he smiled "Also didn't know you made cute little noises."

Scarab refused to look at the Wishmaster. He refused to accept the word ‘cute’ as a title. "Just let me down into the basement." He grumbled. "Yeah okay sure." Prismo was sure that Fionna, Cake and Simon were far enough away where Scarab wouldn't find them unless Prismo somehow donked up real bad. Prismo opened up a passage in the floor, revealing a staircase leading downwards. He lead Scarab, who was still being reserved, downwards into the depths of the Time Room.

Chapter Text

As the two descended deeper into the Time Room, Scarab tapped the floors with his cane. He seemed on high alert. Luckily for Prismo, since he distracted the beetle-man earlier, Fionna, Cake, and Simon were far enough away from being discovered — for now. Knowing Scarab, it was only a matter of time before he found where they were hiding within the Time Room walls.
"Hey Scrabby—" Prismo began before being cut off by Scarab, hissing with a harsh tone. "Scarab." The beetle corrected, irritated. "Yeah… Uh, did you maybe wanna see my pickle room?" Prismo questioned, a little nervously from the previous scolding. Scarab scoffed and crossed his arms. "What interest would a room like that be to me?" Scarab’s response was laced with venom, with a slight static sounding noise mixed in. Prismo found the noises Scarab made really interesting. He wondered if Scarab always made those noises. They were quiet; but just faint enough to hear which peaked Prismo’s curiosity.

"It's through the Time Core." Prismo blurted out suddenly which made Scarab raise an eyebrow. He was always really interested in the Time Core, ever since he was training to be Wishmaster — a job he worked so hard to try and achieve only for Prismo to swoop in and take it from him. "Okay. Perhaps I will humour you." Scarab grumbled, a soft chirping sound leaving him. Just thinking about the Time Core sent an exciting chill down his spine. "Alright Scrabs, let's go!" Prismo exclaimed, the nickname obviously angering Scarab a little despite him not responding this time.

The two made their way into the Time Core, a soft clicking noise coming from Scarab the entire way over. They both began to make their way through, Scarab’s footsteps echoing off the fluorescent white floor. "So… Majestic…" Scarab exclaimed in astonishment, soaking in all of the bright colours and loud noises, the flashes of coloured light grazing his exoskeleton in a wonderful feeling of intense wonder. "Trillions of waves of time spreading across creation in a mighty gush." Scarab rambled clenching his clawed hand with passion. "Eh, the colours give me a headache." Prismo yawned and scratched his head, earning a distasteful look from his beetle visitor who made a slight grumbling noise — almost like a low growl. Scarab didn't understand how Prismo could be so clueless and uninterested. He didn't deserve the honourable title of ‘Wishmaster’ if he couldn't appreciate the beauty of the wonderful creation of time. "Hey Scrabby, is the reason you like the core so much because of your weird light sensitivity?" Prismo questioned, thinking about how Scarab reacted to the feeling of his hand projecting onto him earlier. Scarab did not respond.

Scarab was silent the rest of the way through the core which honestly kind of worried Prismo. Once they reached the end of the Time Core, they started making their way toward the Pickle room. "Hey… was that question I asked too personal or.." Prismo asked, hints of stress in his voice. "Cause, y'know… I don't wanna make you uncomforta—" Scarab suddenly cut Prismo off once again with a simple, "Shut up.", causing Prismo to fall into a silence which was very soothing to Scarab. As they entered the Pickle room, Scarab began looking around. The green hue of the room was interesting to say the least. "Sorry..." Prismo groaned, not enjoying the silence nearly as much as Scarab was. "Can we at least… talk?" Prismo sighed. The idea of Scarab being uncomfortable was rising inside him again making him feel horrible. "It is fine, Prismo." Scarab finally grumbled. "I was not and am not uncomfortable with those sorts of questions. I just don’t like being bombarded with them." Scarab sighed, rubbing his temple. "And for your information, yes, I do find the feeling of the light pleasant." Scarab reluctantly admitted. He couldn't stand Prismo acting all sad, that would be annoying. Once again, the faint sound of clicking escaped from Scarab. "Sooo.. did you find it 'pleasant' when I.. y'knowww… touched you before?" Prismo gulped out in an almost embarrassed-like tone, causing a sigh to escape Scarab. As much as he would hate to admit it, he did enjoy the feeling of warmth crossing his exoskeleton. "Vaguely." the beetle confirmed, quieter than before.

Prismo smiled a little as Scarab turned away, looking at all of the Wishmaster’s different kinds of pickles, trying to ignore the smug look on the projection’s face. He fiddled with a few different jars, soon realising that Prismo had again, gone awfully quiet. Scarab found this to be enjoyable yet suspicious. The last time Prismo went this quiet without reason was in the jacuzzi. Scarab glared at the Wishmaster for a little before going back to observing and analysing the array of different pickles, picking one up labeled 'Hot and Spicy'. "That's the last time I make an unauthorised universe." Prismo suddenly mumbled in annoyance. Scarab turned to him, pickle jar in hand. "Unauthorised universe?" Scarab questioned immediately in an ominous voice. Those words delighted him. He had indulged in the Wishmaster’s friendly games for longer than he had planned, but those words had proved to Scarab it was all worth it. Prismo looked back and forth, seeing the green hue of the Pickle room.

"Crap."