#the first ones before croissant realizes they and timekeeper are the same person

[screamsofanoutlawbrain]

crossant cookie's character arc over the tbd events literally is:

fear of the cosmic horrors -> chill with the cosmic horrors -> becoming the cosmic horrors(director crossant)-> the cosmic horrors(timekeeper) -> the greater cosmic horrors(ruler of the ephemeral flow)

[sunshine-1nc]

Doomed by the narrative™

No one could tell how much time had passed.

Or well, someone in the past could.

It felt like an eternity since they had left, not even a goodbye or a note in sight before they vanished. No one could tell where they disappeared to, and no one dared to keep on looking as the timeline started withering away. Well, all except Linzer, who despite being warned constantly, followed the Director. Perhaps she was the worst person to go, her body not being made for the extensive forces of time travel, but after just months of not waking up to that same lovely face, perhaps being destroyed by time was better than that fate.

So much time had passed since then, the amount of her own body she had to fix and replace was uncountable. But the flowers kept on coming back, the same damn red flowers. It was frustrating and almost miserable to say the least, every jump through time to just see them one more time was becoming more and more painful. But this would never stop Linzer, it wouldn't, she would go on with what little hope she still had left that she would be able to hold them in her hands again. Even if it meant facing the same fate of her broken timeline.

She had visited every spot Timekeeper had taken her too, or at least everyone she could think of, but they were nowhere to be found. At this point, Linzer was just hopping through timelines hoping to just come across them, they couldn't have gone so far, right?

Little did Linzer know that they hid in the only spot she could never get to, a time pocket. It was lonely, sure, but Timekeeper, now self affirmed Ruler, felt it was the right punishment for all that they have caused. The amount of timelines meeting their end by their own hand was many, too many, even their own original timeline met the same fate for making a god like them. And now, now they could see everything, all of time is opened up to them, how regretfully boring, monotonous. Ruler chose and wanted to stay in the time pocket, hopefully every Croissant and Timekeeper would disappear from all timelines due to it. Though nothing happened, Ruler could still see them, still see their old self playing with timelines like toys without seeing the consequences.

They tried to keep their eyes off the timeline they once inhabited, fearing the guilt for its soon destruction, but they couldn't keep themselves away from it for long. One day, Ruler finally looked at it, seeing Croissant as the new director as the timeline fell into chaos. But, they noticed one person was no longer there, Linzer. At first, Ruler believed that she had died, only to see that one image of her jumping through a time rift.

All of it set in too quickly, the realization of their leaving making Linzer search for them brought them to near tears. Ruler hoped she would move on, find someone else and forget about them but she did the opposite. Of course they knew what would, what is, happening to her, after all, yeh same happened to that gear that fell into a time rift all that time ago. Ruler looked over at Continuum cog, it not responding in the least when they reached out for it. They held it close, finally breaking down.

Linzer kept on walking as she pulled out a map of sorts, crossing out the current timeline she was in. There were still so many to search and most likely even more that weren't marked down. She sighed, putting the map away before taking out the Time Rend scissors she stole from the TBD as she mentally prepared to go through this again. If there was one thing Linzer had grown to hate, it was time rifts. Every pass felt as if she was being crushed. But she has to make it through it, there's no other way. Linzer took a deep breath before opening the scissors, gasping before feeling like she was dragged down suddenly. Looking at the brass vines that had grown on her body, she groaned before trying to get up, only to be dragged down again.

A loud clunk was heard through the time pocket. Ruler nearly screamed, throwing what is left of the Sonic Embroider at the walls of the time pocket, over and over. They needed to get out, just for a few minutes they needed to leave, they needed to help her, to explain themselves to just see her again. Despite being an omnipotent god, they still couldn't escape out of the hole they had dug for themself. Ruler tried everything, but finally, one time rift opened for them, one that brought them right to Linzer. Their eyes widened, not expecting to ever be able to leave the time pocket as they rushed inside it.

Linzer winced, her body finally having gave in as everything felt heavy. It hurt to move, but the second Linzer heard a time rift open she looked up immediately, almost startled before seeing the one she had been searching for walk forward. Shocked was not a strong enough word to describe how she felt. Soon she was brought into possibly the most comforting hug she's ever been in, her eyes starting to water as she tried and tried to hug them back but her arms didn't move. Ruler backed away, looking at her with their own eye glazed over.

"I'm sorry, for everything." Their voice shook, taking Linzer's hands into their own. "You shouldn't have come."

"You really expected me to just let you go?" Linzer smiled at them, a couple tears running down her face. "I love you."

"I- but- look at the state you're in!" Ruler gripped her hands harder, shaking slightly.

"It was worth it." Linzer looked at them, her words coming out more akin to a whisper. "You're not getting rid of me that easily."

"No- no- no I didn't want to get rid of you-" They breathed in heavily, almost forgetting to at some points. "I was trying to fix everything, I thought I could."

Linzer smiled at them again, Ruler starting to choke on their words as more tears streamed down one side of their face. She just wanted to hold them close so badly, to just comfort them in any way she could, but she still couldn't even move. She looked down at her arm, widening her eyes as she saw it slowly crumbling before her eyes. Ruler looked at it as well, panicking as they grabbed it in hopes to stop it.

"No, please no, you can't- we just-" After seeing her arm crumble more they wrapped their arms around her. "I'm so sorry, this is all my fault, please just stay." They whispered the last part, laying their head on her shoulder.

"This isn't your fault." Linzer sighed, trying to figure out what to say with what time she had left. She knew this was going to happen, but she was glad they were here more than anything. "Remember when Morse attacked you the first time I introduced you to her?"

Ruler snickered at the memory, that cat had it out for them, but they got along eventually.

"Or how about that one time we threw a karaoke party for all the TBD employees, and you almost died laughing at Croissant singing Fireworks?"

They snickered again, backing up slightly as they looked at Linzer, wiping their face with their hand. "This isn't a time for jokes, love."

"I know, but it's cheering you up." She smiled at them again. "I like seeing you happy." Linzer looked down again at her arm, seeing how the crumbling was spreading as she sighed.

"You've always been far too nice to me." Ruler smiled back at her, trying to not look at her arm

"I wonder why?" She chuckled weakly. "Maybe I should have just let Morse eat you."

Ruler laughed, grabbing Linzer again and pulling her into another hug. "I love you, I love you so much."

"I love you too." She laid her head on theirs. Looking at her side again, seeing her arm completely gone as the crumbling started to spread and speed up. "I'm so glad I was able to see you one last time, I don't regret a single thing, I wouldn't want to spend this time with anybody else. "

Ruler looked down at her side again, feeling panicked once again as they held her tighter. Their head was spinning, the pain of seeing their own wife crumble before their eyes bringing them to heavy tears.

"It'll be okay, we're okay." Linzer felt herself start crying again as well, the crumbling getting closer and closer. "You're the love of my life, I love you so much, Timekeeper."

And in a second, she was gone, reduced to metal crumbles on the ground.

Rulers hands shook, everything settled in as they began to sob. They looked around as if they could still find her, looking down at the ground to find her wedding ring. Ruler picked it up, holding it close as the grief overwhelmed them.

They stayed there for a very long time, even they couldn't tell how long they stayed there. Eventually, Ruler stood up, their eye puffy as they put on Linzer's wedding ring right above their own, their eye starting to tear up again.

They could only hope they would meet again, somehow, someway. They'll find her again like she found them

[sour-heart-treats]

Timekeeper being Croissant Cookie’s split personality? Can do a headcanon short fic of that?

It wasn't a very pleasant feeling, having to deal with another voice prodding at her own, poking at her mind to let this other part of herself through. It was vague, but she could tell there was a playful tone in whatever was being spoken. It sounded so much like her, but knowing what's been going on the past few weeks, that was the self-named Timekeeper going on about... Something or other. Wanting to cause a few minor troubles for her brother, that's probably what was being said. As fun as it would be, Croissant gave a sigh, desiring to keep a hold on the front for just a while longer. Besides, it's not like anyone but her knew of this situation, and... How the Hell would she explain it?

'Hey, yea, there's this person named Timekeeper that's been with me for the past month or so and they like to cause problems when I'm not entirely aware of myself.' That's something a perfectly normal person says, yea. There's nothing weird about realizing that one's disassociative tendencies have become more fine-tuned into another person. It probably wasn't, in all honesty. Maybe this wasn't as odd as she was making it out to be, but she wasn't even sure if this was something that was actually occurring or if this was some self-influenced ruse, but it's not like there was... Uh... Oh, guess it's time to lay on the floor, then. The ceiling looks pretty nice today, anyway. There's a bunch of neat little spiral patterns on it and...

Huh. Normally the mechanic didn't care much for such a pattern and kinda feared it in all honesty. 'Maybe this is from you, right, Timey?' She thought to herself, not expecting a response. After all, there wasn't any real communication to be established. It's all weird and unexplained to her, not to mention confusing. There was a huff, followed by Croissant's eyes just... unfocusing while staring. She hoped that her consciousness wouldn't be nudged back in any way, but it wasn't like it was all there to begin with. There wasn't anything sensory to keep her in the 'now' either, no scents or temperature that would alert her. Just... The same room with the same lighting and the same ceiling. The only different feeling, really, was internal.

"I wish this was easier..." Croissant spoke, voice distant from herself. Still her, but not all there. Quiet, tired... Lost, really. "Here you are, some... Imaginary friend of mine that I doodled on my blueprints that's actually in my head! In... in my body..." Oough here it comes, the mechanic knew this all too well. Silence crept over the room as she laid upon the floor that she no longer felt, the processing that she had slowing to a halt- or at least close to it- as nothing around her really made it through her head. The only thing that really ran through was the doubt of reality. With nothing around her, Croissant wondered if she was even here. If she even existed. Perhaps she herself was just some kind of self-made ruse? Nothing more than a covering- a display of some sort. Even with these questions, everything felt dull and slow for a time... Colorless, just in some mass of being barely conscious.

It felt far longer than a few hours before Croissant could recognize anything around her. The first thing that really brought her back was the scent of maple, butter, and... Vanilla? Were these pancakes before her? Blinking, Croissant pulled her vision together as best as she could. The kitchen. She recognized this, at least. It's late in the afternoon, yet she was making breakfast. Either time really does fly, or...

"Uh, hey TK, I found the eggs you wanted."

"TK?" Croissant barely registered the voice that spoke, but most certainly recognized who came in with a carton of those aforementioned eggs. Hero, Caramel, whichever alias fit here was the one that walked in. Without anyone else in the room aside from Caramel and herself, there was really only one assumption to be made about this 'TK'. "When did I...?" When did she ask for eggs? She didn't, but they probably did. Well... She was kinda hungry, anyway. Maybe it was some leftover influence, but... Croissant sure could go for some eggs and pancakes. This Timekeeper that stayed with her had some good tastes. "Ah, nevermind, get over here and start crackin' those eggs."

"Should we make some toast, too, TK?"

"Uh... It's Croissant again. And no, I think we'll be just fine with this."

"O-oh! Well, if... If you say so!"