#For one Sans is very upset at being separated from his brother especially - Papyrus would also fuss but Sans is much louder ironically haha | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

keelywolfe · 4 years

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FIC: The Royal We ch.1 (baon)

Summary: Family helps family. Sometimes right into the path of an oncoming car.

Tags: Spicyhoney, Kustard, Established Relationships, Angst, Hurt/Comfort

Part of the ‘by any other name’ series.

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Read it on AO3

Read it here!

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When they first came to this universe, it hadn’t taken long for Edge to realize that things were very different here than back home in Underfell, (no, not home, not for a long time now). The changes took some time to absorb and some might never fully integrate, as his freezer filled with stocked up meals would attest. But there were a few universal constants and while all of them grew up with their brother as their only relative, they all knew that family helped family. Even when that family was a pack of alternates who appeared later in life.

Which was how Edge found himself on his day off sitting on the floor of what was currently Papyrus and Blue’s house, making party favors for Undyne’s baby shower.

The living room was strewn with decorations waiting to be placed, streamers and banners in an eclectic rainbow of colors, uninflated balloons spilling out of a bag like the leftover skins of a particularly garish fruit. The party itself wasn’t until tomorrow, but that left little time to waste, considering the plans Papyrus had drawn up.

Plan was perhaps an overstatement, but Edge could never fault Papyrus for his enthusiasm. His color scheme, on the other hand—well. He’d never approved of the way some Humans were so obsessed with gender that they actually assigned colors at birth but there was a great distance between that and a design that might cause any guests with fleshier eyes to scramble for sunglasses.

Papyrus was bustling around setting things up while the rest of them were sitting on the floor in a circle around a coffee table that was cluttered with craft supplies. He’d paired each of them off to work on separate projects and for all that the occasion was a joyous one, the mood was decidedly not.

“how many of these things do we need, anyway?” Stretch grumbled. His and Jeff’s assigned duty was to pour a mixture of toffee-coated popcorn into small plastic bags, tie it closed with a ribbon, and then affix a sticker on the front that declared in cheery letters ‘Ready to Pop’!

Edge was morbidly curious as to how Undyne felt about that particular sentiment this close to the end of her pregnancy.

A glance at the finished bags confirmed that Stretch’s ribbons were less a bow and more a tangle of colorful knots, Jeff’s only a slight improvement. The bags were sealed at least, and Papyrus was more than content with the effort, which was all that really mattered.

Besides, Edge was busy with his own task; planting tiny succulents into miniature pots, each with a painstakingly attached tag reading, ‘Watch Me Grow!’. Privately, he thought the small cacti were a far better representation of Undyne than any snack, but then, he wasn’t the one actually throwing the shower.

“How many do we need,” Papyrus repeated thoughtfully. Edge pointedly did not ask about the garland in his hand which seemed to be made of dangling fish ornaments and…was that tomatoes? Edge decided it would be best not to know, lest he end up lying awake tonight with the answer still haunting him. “Well, there is Undyne’s co-workers in Security and Alphys’s at the lab, plus their neighbors and friends, and of course us!”

“i don’t need no damn cactus,” Red muttered sullenly. How Papyrus even got Red here was another burning question, though the answer was likely Sans sitting placidly right next to him. His collar was visible over the neckline of his t-shirt, the buckle glinting in the light. Occasionally he reached up absently to touch it as if to verify it hadn’t wandered off when he wasn’t looking. Their entire duty seemed to be putting cans of sparkling water into drink koozies emblazoned with such witticisms as ‘nacho average baby’ over a cartoon of a tortilla chip. It was anyone’s guess as to if that task was actually assigned to them or simple the one they’d decided on doing, but between them, there were four cans done after a half an hour of work.

Sans managed to slide another can into a koozie, bringing their grand total to five. “paps, that didn’t really answer the question.”

“That would be because I am not finished counting!” Papyrus scolded. “There’s also Undyne’s ‘Cooking with Krav Maga’ class and naturally all the Dreemurr family will be coming.”

“great, ass-gore will be here,” Stretch muttered, fumbling to tie another ribbon with varying success. “i’ll be sure to bring my headphones.”

Edge sighed inwardly. Stretch was in a prickly mood and had been all day, and it didn’t take a scientist-level IQ to know it had something to do with the baby shower. They’d known about this for days; when Papyrus asked if they would help, Edge hadn’t hesitated to agree. Now he was wondering if he shouldn’t have asked Stretch in advance. He hadn’t refused to come, but he’d been twitchy and snappish since getting up that morning, only getting worse when they came over. If the party were for anyone but Undyne, Edge would have suggested they go home.

Adding to the irritation was Red in a poor mood of his own and he hadn’t a single qualm about casting sparks around a gasoline spill. “good, no one wants to hear you flappin’ your yap, anyway. save your 280 characters for your twitter freaks.”

“aww, jealous?” Stretch cooed, “‘cause, you talk so much crap, i dunno whether to you need toilet paper or a breath mint.”

Edge exchanged a weary look with Blue, who returned it with equal exasperation. Those two had been sniping at each other all morning and it was Blue’s turn to attempt a least a little fire prevention.

“Really, Papy, that’s enough,” Blue said reprovingly. That might stop them briefly, but they all knew from past experience it wouldn’t last. Red and Stretch were alike in a number of dissatisfying ways, past the darkened circles of exhaustion that were currently visible beneath both their sockets. For one, most of them weren’t above returning a good insult with a better one, but Red and Stretch could be particularly vicious about it. Usually it was better to let them simply work it out between themselves; trying to intercede past a little mild scolding usually ended up getting you mixed up in the spat.

This time Edge was tempted, if only because Jeff looked supremely uncomfortable. He fumbled with his latest little bag of popcorn and ended up with a good portion bouncing into his lap rather than the treat bag.

For the time being, Sans seemed content to allow them to try to rein in their brothers, and that would likely last until their petty squabbling might upset Papyrus. Who thus far either hadn’t noticed or was content to allow the others to handle it. Edge hoped it was the latter. The crack in Papyrus’s skull was still starkly visible, although his balance seemed much improved, if the way he all but leapt from the ladder was any indication, digging furiously through an overflowing box of even more decorations.

“sure, bro,” Stretch said to his brother’s scold, and then promptly added a mumble of, “don’t see why he has to be here, anyway.”

“’cause it ain’t your party, it’s hers, and she’d want ‘im,” Red grumbled. Then, in a smirking sotto voce, “’sides, i figure he’s the baby daddy so be kinda rude not to at least give ‘im a party favor.”

“There is no baby daddy, since neither Undyne nor Alphys want to be called daddy, and it’s much ruder to speculate,” Papyrus called primly, confirming that he was indeed listening to the ongoing bickering. He stood with his hands on his hips, eyeing the growing balloon sculpture critically. Edge joined him in looking, biting the tip of his tongue to hold back any questions, especially on whether the design was supposed to be Undyne or an eggplant. Never ask when you didn’t want to know the answer and Papyrus wove in another long, purple balloon as he went on, “and also Asgore can’t be the donor because I am.”

A hush of silence fell, along with a number of wide sockets and eyes turning to Papyrus’s direction. No one’s were wider than Sans’s at what was obviously unexpected news to him as he blurted, "seriously, bro? you're the one who handed over the baby batter for undyne?”

Papyrus frowned at them all reprovingly. “That is rude AND crude, I'll thank you not to refer to it that way.”

"sorry, bro, but fuck,” Sans sputtered, “you didn’t say anything!”

"Is there a reason I would need to?” Papyrus asked, brow bones raised, “Undyne is my best friend and wanted a child, so of course I would help provide the necessary material in her time of need!"

“necessary material,” Stretch muttered, his face scrunching up, and in that Edge could only agree, “right.” He nudged Jeff with an elbow, who yelped aloud and jumped, sending up another miniature shower of popcorn, “uh, andy, i know we're best buds and all, but if you ever need--"

“Nope, I’m good,” Jeff said, a touch too loudly.

“happy to hear it.” Stretch gave him a grin that slowly faded. “see? so if asgore didn’t donate his, uh, time and effort, he can stay home."

“Honestly, Papy you can’t—" Blue began reprovingly, only to be drowned out by Red’s loud snort.

“what the fuck is your problem with asgore, anyway,” Red grumbled. He picked at his gold tooth, a tell that sent tension winding up Edge’s spine even as his brother added with lazy viciousness, “get over it already, you act like he’s your ex who fucked you over.”

The day seemed to be one for unexpected silences. Only this time the stares were directed at Stretch, who said nothing. He only sat white-faced, cellophane crinkling loudly as his hands fisted around the bag in his lap, his skull draining of color as he managed to look at anything but those stares.

Red let out a harsh chortle of laughter, “seriously? all this time you’ve been holier than thou about his lv and it’s actually ‘cause you used to give him the bone over in your ‘verse? fuck, now there is a mental picture,” Red moaned out gleefully, “oooh, fuzzy ass, stick it to me good! ram me with your furry wand of wonder and i’ll get your goat!”

A chorus of protests rose up, with Edge’s snarl of, “That’s enough!” rising to the top.

But Stretch was already standing, a litter of colorful ribbons shedding from his lap as he walked swiftly to the door.

“Rus—" Edge stood to chase after him, cursing his damned leg as it threatened to buckle under him. It was an exercise in futility from the start, as he’d known it would be. Stretch shortcutted the moment he was out the door, heading off Angel knew where to lose himself in the stew of his own thoughts. The temptation to look up where he’d reappeared on the phone app was strong, but Edge resisted it. Stretch had the right to be alone if that was what he wanted, particularly after that dig.

He sighed and went back into the house. Only to pause as he saw the various looks had transferred to him, all of them guarded, particularly Blue; his starry eye lights seemed to be anticipating anger at Stretch. As if this made any damned difference between them. Even Jeff looked near tears, like he expected Edge to already have Antwan on the phone demanding him to draw up divorce papers. It was damn well insulting, and he glared back at them all until those gazes dropped, Blue’s reluctantly last.

All except for his own brother. Red was grinning, savagely pleased, and if they wanted anger, the simmering urge to shout at his brother was rising to a roiling boil in him, his LV waking in his soul to twinge eagerly at the heat of it. Only that was likely exactly what his brother wanted, to be punished for his casual cruelties. Whatever was troubling Red, Edge wasn’t about to reward his masochism.

His own anger fell swiftly into disappointment; lately Red had been bordering on kind with Stretch, if it could be called that, treating him as a brother, or better, if Edge were honest with himself. A brother that needed his protection as Edge decidedly did not. It’d been some time since he’d deliberately needled Stretch and Edge couldn’t even understand why he’d chosen to do so today. Whatever his petty reasons, they weren’t sufficient enough to excuse that.

Edge kept his voice low and even as he said, “That was cruel.”

That satisfied smirk faltered and Red shifted to lean forward. “yeah? well, it's about time he starts getting’ over it. it ain’t the same guy and he’s married to you.”

“Affection for someone else is not any kind of betrayal and considering that all of you calculated our worlds have ceased to exist, there isn’t much opportunity for closure, is there,” Edge said, acid creeping in. "The state of my marriage is no concern of yours."

Red’s sockets fell half-closed as he said, dangerously soft, "you think so, boss?"

Then he flinched suddenly, yelping as Sans slapped him upside the head. "you’re so eager for stretch to get over shit, how about you practice what you preach.” He shoved a can of sparkling water into Red’s lap. “shut up and put on a fucking koozie.”

Red scowled hard and Edge did not miss his crimson gaze flicking to the collar around Sans's throat. Grudgingly, he did what he was told.

“Do not interfere with my marriage,” Edge said coolly. Not that such a statement would stop his brother, but at least it was said between them. Then to Papyrus. “I am sorry, but."

Papyrus only flapped his hands at him, shooing him away, “No, no, go, talk to Stretchy Me! I’m sure Cherry here would like to think about how much he hurt Stretch’s feelings and yours, his own brother, who has recently suffered an injury. And there are my own injuries to consider as well, sticks, stones, and words do hurt!"

Edge let him ramble and started for the door, then hesitated. The others were accustomed to a certain amount of internal friction, some of it formerly his and Stretch’s, from the moment they woke up in this universe. Their Human companion was not so inured to it and Edge crouched to set a ginger hand on Jeff’s shoulder, “Jeff, I’m sorry.”

“Nah,” Jeff waved it off, offering up a lopsided grin. “That was nothing. You should’ve seen Thanksgiving at my grandparent’s place. Don’t think my grandma ever got the gravy stains off the ceiling.”

“can’t just drop a hint like that and not give the story, andy,” Sans said, lightly. The others murmured agreement, eager to latch onto another topic.

Edge could hear as he went out the door, “Well, uh, see, my grandpa was originally from Norway, and—”

There were any number of places Stretch might go to nurse his internal wounds, but Edge had a fairly good guess as to the likeliest one. He drove home, parked his car in the driveway, but instead of heading up to the front porch, he went around the side of the house towards their fenced backyard. Before he was even close, he could hear Stretch talking and he went quietly through the gate to see him sitting outside the coop with Noodle settled into his lap, the laces of his untied sneakers trailing into the grass for Dumpling to peck at.

His skull was resting against one of the support posts, still too pale, his sockets closed and his vape drooping loosely from his long fingers. Vaping instead of smoking cropped up sometimes when Stretch was truly irritated, as if he subconsciously wanted control over something and settled for his nicotine addiction. Or perhaps it was to protect his feathered companions from secondhand smoke.

Noodle didn’t seem bothered either way, chirring softly as Stretch stroked his free hand down her back.

“—not like i don’t know i’m being a dick. that guy just pisses me off sometimes. asgore, not red. actually, they both piss me off, now that you mention it.”

Noodle made an inquisitive sound and Stretch sighed out a cloud of vapor. “yeah, yeah, i was in a mood before we even went over. i dunno, all that baby shit gets on my nerves for some reason.” He scratched lightly under Noodle’s chin and she cooed contentedly. “you’re right, it’s no excuse for being shitty. especially to papyrus, he’s all excited about throwing this party. even if the balloon thing was creepy, you should’ve seen it, like cthulhu’s second cousin after failed plastic surgery.”

“You weren’t being a dick.” Edge said, quietly. Stretch tensed and his sockets slid open, but he didn’t look up, his pale eye lights straying down on his poultry pal. Edge walked over and sat next to them, keeping a careful distance away, easily breached if Stretch wished, or a comforting barrier if he didn’t. “Perhaps a little rude.” Edge held up his thumb and forefinger an inch apart. “A little. My brother, on the other hand, was embracing his dickish nature.”

Stretch made a faint, amused sound, “red embracing his dick was not a chat i was expecting today.”

Then he leaned to the side, crossing the distance between them to rest his skull on Edge’s shoulder. He took the unsubtle hint and slid an arm around his husband’s slim shoulders, holding him in close, closing his sockets against the faint tremble in Stretch’s voice as softly spoke.

“he wasn’t my boyfriend. fuck, i never saw him get out of the ruins. i…might’ve given it a shot if he had,” his voice dropped to a bare whisper and Edge hummed encouragingly, already anticipating what was coming, “but i was fucking everyone back then. i was maybe a little infatuated, okay? that’s it.”

“All right,” Edge said, calmly, even as he tightened his arm around Stretch, holding him closer still. He was not jealous of Stretch’s yesterdays; his only commitments were his tomorrows, and despite what his brother might think, Edge was certainly not about to allow anything so trivial as a former crush on a dead man come between them.

Stretch heaved a watery little sigh. “but that isn’t it, not really. he was my friend and i promised him i’d take care of the kid. instead i—"

“Did what you had to do,” Edge interrupted firmly. He understood impossible situations better than most, his own LV-tainted soul aching to think of Stretch enduring what he had for so long, an impossible choice to make between his world and the intent of a murderous child.

Yet, even now, Stretch couldn’t be convinced that was true. He only sighed out a quiet, “sure.” Then, louder, “anyway. he was my friend. he would have hated to see what he was in this world. it’s just…it’s hard sometimes.”

“I know.” Hard to see alternates of people they’d known, a lifetime of memories to be set aside while learning a new person with an old face. Undyne was his own personal struggle and Edge could call her friend, but it wasn’t the same, it couldn’t be.

Next to him, Stretch snuggled in closer even as Noodle let out a querulous protest over the lack of petting. “i’ve been thinking. my hp is on the rise, right?”

“It’s 5 and a quarter, love,” Edge said dryly, reaching over to offer the chicken a gentle pat, Noodle’s dismay quickly turning to a rapturous croon, “and as happy as I am for it, I’d prefer if you didn’t decide to take up hang gliding or street fighting.”

"you're hilarious, babe." Another long, slow breath, before Stretch blurted, "i know i kinda railroaded you when we talked about this before. if you really want kids--" he faltered, his voice breaking as Edge listened in dismayed confusion, "i mean, if that's…we could…"

Suddenly Edge knew precisely what Rus was going to offer and he didn’t want to hear it. Didn’t want him to think in even the tiniest way that he’d lost some measure of Edge’s love by preferring not to have children and and he didn’t know how to stop him from strangling out the words.

So Edge cupped his face in a hand and turned Stretch’s head towards him to kiss that stammering mouth lingeringly, until he stopped trying and simply melted into the gentle touch. By the time he drew away, Stretch was the one making thin, dismayed sounds, trying to chase after that kiss for more, his eye lights hazy soft. Instead, Edge pressed a light, teasing kiss to the slight nodule of his nasal cavity.

"No, I don’t think so,” Edge told him, slow and carefully. Watching that much-loved face to make sure Stretch was hearing him. “I’ve considered it and I’ve decided I’m entirely too busy to add parenthood to my schedule. I’m going back to the Y this week, I think I’m better off trying to secure a place in this world for the children already in it.”

Poorly hidden relief flickered over Stretch’s face and Edge leaned in to kiss him again, silently hoping that he was truly believed this time. There was no doubt in his mind that Stretch would force himself to endure the stresses of having a child if he thought Edge wished it, but making Stretch bear the weight of unwanted parenthood was a nightmare not to be considered. He’d love the child, surely, but at what cost? Far higher than Edge would ever consider paying.

A sudden cackle came from inside the coop and Stretch jerked away, sitting bolt upright.

“the egg!” Stretch gasped, scrambling to his feet, “i never did get a chance to research her adopted egg. you think maybe it actually—” hatched, he did not say, almost superstitiously hopeful.

“It’s possible,” Edge hedged, doubtfully. They both started into the coop, only for a voice calling over the fence to stop them.

“Hello? Hello, is anyone home?” The words were couched with near panic and the voice was a familiar one. Stretch beat him to the fence, opening the gate as he limped as quickly as he could over.

“Janice?” Edge said, surprised and concerned. The fur on her face was matted and wet with tears and she wrung her hands, shaking as she tried to speak. It brought back unpleasant memories of the attack at the Embassy, when one of the protesters threw a brick at her. Even then her pain and fear were tempered under practicality as she asked Antwan to bring her children to the hospital, her thoughts on keeping her boys from fearing Humans more than they already might. To see her bereft of her usual firm control was concerning.

“Calm down,” Edge soothed, pulling her into his arms without a thought, even as he cast a wary glance around the neighborhood. Nothing seemed out of order, not yet, “What’s happened?”

She leaned against him heavily and he nearly staggered back a step. Tall as he was, they were of nearly an equal weight. “It’s Jude, he didn’t come home for lunch and I can’t find him anywhere!” She hitched out a sob. “None of the other children have seen him, my family has been looking but we can’t find him, I can’t—”

Her voice dissolved and Edge gave her a last pat before firmly pushing her into his husband’s startled arms.

“Stretch, stay with her,” Edge commanded, reaching for his phone, “I’m going to make some calls.”

“yeah, sure,” Stretch agreed hastily. He rubbed a soothing hand down her back as Janice struggled against her tears. “hey, we’ll find him. little guy couldn’t have gotten too far.”

Edge was already pulling up his contact list and couldn’t help the darkly sour thought that if this didn’t pull his brother out of his bad mood, nothing would.

~~*~~

tbc

#spicyhoney #papcest #kustard #keelywolfe #underfell #underswap #underfell papyrus #underswap papyrus #by any other name

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skelebonecentral · 3 years

Text

Hothouse Rose Chapter 3

you meet the boys. well, most of them

words under cut

It’s less than five minutes, and you’ve managed to find your class ring from high school, showing Papyrus all the icons on it, when someone calls, “PAPYRUS, DEAR!”

“IN HERE, CHARM!” Papy calls back, and you turn to see a skeleton in a leotard and bright pink leather boots looking in. Well, his leotard also had a huge hole cut in the center, showing his ribs and the sheet of toned ecto-flesh that matched his boots to a T. Other than that, he looked like he and Papyrus had pulled lots out of the same gene pool for sure. He looked more like Papyrus than even Sans did.

“Ah! And this must be Y/N,” he came into the room and gently took your hand, bowing and kissing it in one go, “My name is Charm, and I’m so elated to finally meet you.”

You’re a little shocked, still, but clear your throat, “Y-yeah, it’s nice to meet you, too.”

There’s a bit of a shift to your right, and you see someone who looks like a more awake and confident version of Sans looking forlornly at your soot-covered sheets, “Oh, this poor satin is ruined…” As Charm backs away, they look up and run over, “Sweetheart, you’re even more gorgeous than I imagined! I’m Boa, Papyrus’ cousin, and oooh, you’re going to be a dream to make clothes for! I’ve never had a human model before and this is going to be amazing!”

He was wearing a bright blue button-down shirt that had been tailored with a very snatched waist and open shoulders, as well as a matching feather boa (ah, his namesake maybe?) around his shoulders, echoing the color of the upside-down hearts that were his eye lights. His pants were red denim capris, and a purple pillbox hat sporting three feathers sat jauntily on top of his skull.

“BOA, AS MUCH AS I LOVE THE IDEA OF MY DATEMATE IN LOVELY HANDMADE CLOTHES, THEY’RE HAVING A CRISIS AT THE MOMENT, SO MAYBE LATER?” Papyrus gently pulls his cousin away and you just smile. Thank stars for Papyrus.

“Oh, right, sorry.” Boa bops himself on the skull gently and sticks out a sparkling baby-blue tongue. It reminds you of how you found out about skeleton’s making ectoplasm bodies, from Papyrus doing the same thing when you laughed about a candy turning your tongue orange. He’d grinned and showed you his, that it was orange all the time, and you were amazed.

Papyrus gathers his cousins close to his ‘talking corner’ where he’d spoken on the phone, “ALRIGHT. THE GAMEPLAN THUS FAR IS THAT BOA HELPS ME FIGURE OUT WHAT FABRIC THINGS CAN BE SALVAGED AND I’LL DEAL WITH THE OTHER OBJECTS SINCE I’M USED TO UNDYNE’S HOUSE CATCHING FIRE ALL THE TIME. CHARM, YOU TAKE Y/N OUTSIDE SO THEY DON’T GET OVERWHELMED WITH THE LOSS AND MAYBE GET TO KNOW THEM? THEY’RE YOUR HOUSEMATE NOW, TOO, SO IT’S A GOOD IDEA!”

“And does that mean I get a turn to be one on one with Y/n later?” Boa asked, and Papyrus nodded, “Alright, that works for me!”

Charm chuckled, then separated from them and offered you his hand, letting you notice the sleeve of his outfit was tied by a band to his middle finger, “Alright, dear, let me take you to the yard and we’ll find a sitting place to talk a bit.”

“There’s a stump in the backyard, kind of a good seat along with the one deck chair…if it’s still there,” you offer, and he nods, steering you out of the collapsed side wall and to the back, letting you take the stump and he perches on the edge of the smoke-smelling chair since one arm has melted slightly, being made of plastic.

“Alright, Y/n, you already know I’m Papyrus’ cousin, and I know you’re his datemate, but we’re otherwise strangers. Let’s change that. Twenty questions?” Charm asked and you snort a bit.

“Sure. Why not? I’ll go first. What do you do for work?”

He smiled, “I’m a masseuse, I work at the massage parlor in the shops across from campus. Of course, that’s only since I came here, but it’s good work. What about you? What paid the rent here?” He crossed one leg over the other at the knee, using his hands to hold that leg steady. He sat straight as a board, just like Papyrus did.

“Well, I work for the main library. I mostly check in returns, make sure they’re not damaged, that kind of thing. I started off as a part timer, but last semester they hired me full time and I’m really liking it.” You had to call in to work, too. But that was tomorrow. “Okay, how are you finding the town? Is it anything like Snowdin? I know that’s where Papyrus comes from, I guess you do, too?”

Charm nodded, “Well, we’re from very different backgrounds, but no, it’s not like home at all. So many humans, so much isolation from other people. It’s very different up here. But I do like it. All the space, all the life and light and sound. It’s exciting. Now, I want to know,” he grinned as he tilted his head a bit, “What’s University like? I’ve never been, but humans seem to think it’s a very exciting time of self discovery. Is it rumor or truth?”

Finally getting used to the smell of smoke, you laugh without coughing now, “Ah, well, that depends on who’s talking. For me, it’s been more about discovering other people. I spent most of my childhood just being with my family since I was an awkward kid, so I’m making friends…though it’s ended up mostly making monster friends. Humans are weird, even to other humans.”

Humming a bit, Charm seems to consider it, then asks, “And your love life? That’s the thing about university I’m curious about. Well, human love in general is fascinating to me.”

You blush, feeling awkward now, “Uh…I didn’t date, before Papyrus. So um…I don’t have one? Never have?”

He blinks, then sighs, one hand being slapped over his sockets “Oh stars, no wonder he had to call me to ask if you could move in. You’re both hermit crabs all closed up in shells. Good grief.”

A spark of irritation ignites in your chest, “Well, that and he’s a polite person. You don’t just throw someone into a home and say ‘okay they live here now’ without asking the other people who live there. That would be horrid and incredibly insulting to everyone. A breach of privacy.”

Charm winces, nodding, “I didn’t think about it that way. Privacy wasn’t a big thing in my home, my brother and I just brought people in as we saw fit but…that’s no excuse for upsetting you. I’m sorry.”

Oh, you hadn’t meant to get an apology about it. “N-no, I…I got mad for no reason. I guess it’s the stress, you’re fine, Charm. I just am very private, about most everything, so it sort of panics me to think I’d have to suddenly…without warning deal with another person I didn’t know. I can understand why one of you didn’t want to let me in and I’m kind of scared to go if we’re honest.”

Something in his expression shifted, and Charm smiled warmly as he settled into a more basic sitting position, putting his leg down as he cooed, “Oh, human, I’m very sorry for overstepping then. It’s still so new for me, I forget people keep their walls up out of self-protection. You deserve to be comfortable, and there’s no need to be frightened. I won’t be snooping in your room or things once we get you home, and neither will Boa or my brother. Or Boa’s brother, now that I think about it, since he’s just as private. Our own little hermit, Sweet-pea is.”

“His name is Sweet-pea?” you smile a little, “All of you have such unique names, I really like them.”

Charm gets a bit of his confident glow back, “Oh, yes, thank you. They’re nicknames, actually, since we either didn’t like or didn’t want to use our real ones. Sans and Papyrus are the only ones going by legal names in our house.” He laughs a bit, sounding very much like Papyrus, if softer than normal.

“That’s cool. I knew a lot of kids that didn’t go by their full name, or went by middle names or something. It’s pretty common, especially if there’s more than one kid with the same name in a class.”

His sockets crinkle, “Well, that’s something I didn’t know. It’s rather fun talking to you, you know? I see how you charmed my cousin so completely now.”

You just blush. So many compliments…

---

“Papyrus, really, there’s nothing to be done! Alphys might be able to fix the computer, and we can dry the books, but I don’t know about the rest of this stuff. We’d have to call a professional conservator.” Boa frowned. “Human furniture isn’t made to hold up against water and soot like monster manufactured stuff.”

“I KNOW BUT…I JUST FEEL LIKE I FAILED THEM.” Papyrus slumps as he drops the ruined sweater he’d been holding. “AFTER SAYING I’D HELP, AND I HAVE TO TELL THEM IT’S USELESS.”

Boa sighed and touched his arm gently, “But you did help. You got them out there with Charm, away from this mess and all the soot and grime that could hurt their human body, and you called in the only expert you knew.” Seeing that Papyrus was crying, he moved in front, holding both Papyrus’ hands, “I know it hurts, but remember, they love you and trust you to make good choices for them. They wouldn’t have asked you to be with them during this time otherwise!”

He just nodded, “I’M JUST KIND OF OVERWHELMED WITH EVERYTHING. IT’S JUST SO SAD THEY’VE LOST SO MUCH, AND I DON’T KNOW IF THEY’RE GOING TO LIKE IT AT OUR HOUSE. I’M SCARED WHIP MIGHT SCARE THEM OFF, OR…”

Boa quirked his mouth, finishing the sentence, “Or any of the rest of us with our predilection toward pleasure. Because you’re both shy little virgins despite our best efforts on trying to help!”

“BOA!”

“No, it’s true!” Boa grinned, purposefully taking this thread to get Papyrus away from being sad, “We’re all about being sexy scary skeletons! Oh, look at me!” He took a sensual pose and pouted, “Aren’t I terrifying being an inch shorter than your human and covered in feathers! Look at my very obvious boner that’s always there because I’m so sexy! Are you looking, Papyrus?” He’s teasing, expression bright as he tries not to giggle, and Papryus groans and covers his face from blushing.

“BOA, I GET IT. I’M A NERVOUS NELLIE, ESPECIALLY COMPARED TO ALL OF YOU, BUT THEY’RE VERY IMPORTANT TO ME! ALSO YOU’RE LUCKY I CAN FEEL YOUR INTENT OR I’D THINK YOU WERE HURT BY WHAT I SAID.”

Stopping his posturing, Boa waltzed back to his side and let his laughter out, “Oh, Papyrus, I’m sorry. I know reading people isn’t as easy for you as other monsters, but I had to make you smile. I did do that, didn’t I?”

He’s peeking around Papyrus’ hands, but beams as they’re lowered and a put-upon grin is on the taller skeleton’s face, “YOU DID AND I’M MAD ABOUT IT!”

“That’s my good cousin. Now, we’ll find someone reputable to help with this, but in the meantime, let’s pack everything that’s in one piece up carefully and get Y/n back to our house,” eye lights sparkling, Boa sets about doing just that, pulling various cardboard boxes out of his inventory and carefully placing things inside. “And of course we’re going to pay for the cleaning and such. Poor Y/n is still paying for school, after all. I remember how expensive that proposition was, and that was in the Underground!”

“I DO AGREE, BUT REMEMBER THAT JUST BECAUSE READER ISN’T RICH DOESN’T MEAN THEY’RE HELPLESS. HUMAN ECONOMICS ARE VERY STRANGE, BUT THEY LIKE TRYING TO MAKE IT ON THEIR OWN. I ALREADY HAD THAT TALKING TO, SO I’M GIVING YOU THE SHORT VERISON. THEY SEE US BUYING THEIR EVERY WHIM AS DEGRADING AND INFANTILIZING. SO DON’T,” Papyrus cringed internally thinking about the dressing down he got when the gold exchange finally came in. His idea of pampering was your idea of pity and it did NOT go over well. Your first fight, actually, and he was so glad you forgave him for the misstep when he explained where he was coming from. He didn’t try to buy everything for you, just gifts for special occasions, and you bought your own everything.

Boa blinked a bit, then nodded, “Oh, of course. I can understand that mindset. But…but they will let us help them a little, right? They at least have to buy new clothes…” His eyes lit up brighter, “Oh, that can be my turn! Charm got them this couple of hours and I get to take them shopping. I won’t!” he saw Papyrus’ mouth opening, “I won’t buy everything for them, but I will convince them to let us go halvesies as my welcome home present for them. That’s fair, right?”

“I…SUPPOSE SO, YES. OKAY.” Papyrus looked around the room, where he and y/n had spent so much time, where he’d first asked them to date, and felt incredibly down. Now it was just the memories left, the place stolen from them in moments. “JUST ASK THEIR PERMISSION FIRST. ABOUT PRETTY MUCH ANYTHING.”

Boa took his hand and smiled, “Certainly. Now let’s go get your datemate.”

Boa eagerly ran out and giggled when he saw what was happening.

Charm was carefully massaging you as you sat on the deck chair, skilled hands having already turned you to putty as he worked out all your stress.

“I SEE YOU TWO GOT ALONG WELL,” Papyrus is very glad someone was helping you relax, and you did look much happier. “CHARM, THANK YOU FOR HELPING. WE’VE GOT WHAT WE’RE GOING TO SEND FOR CLEANING PACKED UP, AND WE’LL HAVE SOMEONE REVIEW THE FURNITURE ONCE WE DO SOME RESEARCH.” He then turned to you, as you opened your eyes, looking half asleep, “I’M AFRAID WE CAN’T LET YOU HAVE ANY OF THE CLOTHES, THOUGH. THEY’RE ALL WET AND/OR COVERED IN SOOT.”

A flash of worry, and Boa stepped up, “But! I thought maybe me and you could go shopping to get you things to hold you over. And I could buy some of it as your welcome home present~” He grins, and you relax a little.

“Aren’t you a fabrics expert? You aren’t going to like what I buy. I’m not fashionable. If it doesn’t have a fun picture or saying on it, I usually don’t buy it.”

Hands in the air like a surrendering general, Boa nodded, “It’s true, I make fashion, sew it together every day, but Y/n, dear, you’re Papyrus’ datemate, and I would rather you be comfy than stylish. Besides, how will I know what you like to wear if I don’t see what you pick yourself? Comfort is just as important as appearance, you know!”

“Human fashion doesn’t work that way, but I’m glad you think so,” you reluctantly leave your position of bliss and get up, brushing off your clothes. “Papy, are you sure you don’t want to come with me?”

“I’D LOVE TO, BUT CHARM AND I ARE GOING TO HEAD HOME AND GET YOUR ROOM READY FOR YOU. WE’VE GOT SOME STORED FURNITURE TO PUT BACK TOGETHER AND A DEEP CLEAN OF THE ROOM AND ALL COMMUNAL SPACES TO DO!” He did come over and nuzzle his teeth to your forehead gently, “BUT I TRUST BOA TO TAKE CARE OF YOU, AND I’LL BE A PHONE CALL AWAY IF YOU NEED ME, ALRIGHT?”

“Okay. You take care and don’t overdo yourself. I want you being safe more than I want a new room,” you did worry when he started doing projects. He was strong, but you weren’t sure where his limit was and preferred being cautious about it.

“I PROMISE! CHARM IS GOING TO HELP ME, RIGHT?” He looks to his cousin, who nods happily.

“I do love a good furniture assembly. Now, you two behave and I’ll see you both when you come home.” He gave you a squeeze, then did the same to Boa before heading to the front yard.

Sighing, you motioned for Boa to follow you to the street. Both you and Papyrus had been too upset last night to drive, so your car was still sitting in the driveway, undamaged. It was a nice little thing, navy blue Taurus with a few years on it, and you sank with a sigh into the familiar seat.

“Oooh, your car is so sweet! A little sedan, so family friendly. I love it.” Boa slipped into the passenger seat and clicked his belt on happily. “Nice choice, very forward thinking.”

“What? This was one of my Aunt’s car. She gifted it to me so I could drive around school.”

“Oh.” Boa blinked, then shrugged, “Still, if you and Papy do have kids, you have the room.”

“Boa!” You blushed, glad you’d only started the engine and not pulled out onto the street, “What is with you and Charm saying all these things about my relationship with Papyrus! We’re dating, we’re not anywhere close to thinking about children!”

Boa seemed to realize something and looked horrified, “Oh stars, I’m sorry! Kids are all people I knew thought about in relationships and I didn’t realize! It was different here! I’m sorry!” His voice got small, nervous, “It’s just so different here, and I don’t know what’s appropriate outside the house yet since most of the others think like that, too. I really don’t mean to overstep.”

Steadying breaths in and out, and you shook it off, “It’s okay. There’s going to be culture differences, I get that, and I’m going to try and be understanding.” You finally got started down the road, heading to the local Poplar, a big box store and your preferred shopping experience. “So, the goal of relationships underground was more about kids than love?”

“Oh, well…kind of? Short term ones were, anyway,” Boa thinks for a moment. “There was just this pervasive idea that the end goal of any relationship was to have kids. Not that there were many kids even so, but it was still a big deal and the whole town would help raise the cutie, but…love was more reserved for older folks who were done giving their all to increase the population.”

You blinked a bit. Papyrus had told you, early on, that the Underground was way too crowded by the time Frisk set them all free. The Capitol was overflowing into the other areas of the underground, and there were worries about what would happen when everywhere was full. But? Well, you weren’t exactly in a place to call out the hypocrisies in a different society than your own. “Huh. Interesting. I’m not good at conversation, so you tell me whether you want me to talk about how humans do things now or if you want more questions on your end of things.”

He giggled, and it sounded utterly adorable, “Well, I’d like to know about humans. Your relationships aren’t all about babies?”

“Oh heck no. Most folks my age would rather jump off a bridge than have kids willingly,” you snort. “I mean, outside of a marriage, having a kid would be really hard and upsetting. You don’t have the money, you don’t have a partner to support you and the kid, you don’t have two families worth of folks who’d maybe watch the kid while you work…nah, we mostly have kids as an obligation after marriage because it’s EXPECTED that you have them.”

The silence in the passenger seat makes you look over once you’re at a stop light and Boa looks grey from how much color his skull has lost.

“Boa? Did I go too ham on you? Is…is it that shocking?” you didn’t think about it, just spouting out what you thought and your view on the subject.

He just nodded, “I…first the implication that people are having children against their will is terrifying, secondly, what….how do…is the community unsupportive of people who are single but have children?”

“Kind of, yeah. Most of those people are either divorced, or had kids before they were married, and most of them are women.” You sigh, “Society up here tends to look down on women if they do anything, but especially if you aren’t ‘pure’ or whatever and have kids out of marriage. For some reason that I never understood, the idea that a woman had sex with someone without getting married to them first is scandalous and her having a child she can’t support is seen as just punishment. I don’t get it. Not at all.”

You pull into the parking lot and park in a far slot, turning to Boa. He’s shaking, the rattling of his bones very audible. “I’m sorry if this is hard for you to learn, but I just want to make that clear to you so you can know when some human says something nasty about that subject. It’s evil, it’s messed up, and I hate it, but it’s how things are on the surface right this moment. I hope it changes soon.”

Boa sniffles, then unbuckles his belt and hugs you tight. He doesn’t speak, not for a long time, but he does hold you and you can’t fault him. Stars, coming from a world where kids were supported by everyone to a world where people genuinely didn’t care if a child was well cared for or not must be horrible. Poor guy.

After a while, he calms down and finally talks, “No wonder Sans has kept us all close to the house. I’m kind of glad my brother isn’t out here exposed to that kind of warped thinking.” He searches your face for a moment, then sighs, “But you’re good. You genuinely love Papyrus, I can tell. Thank stars he found someone whose mind isn’t full of such negativity.”

Letting him go takes some doing, since you don’t want to, but you manage it, “I know. With how much he likes platonic cuddling, people could have really hurt him if he wasn’t just such a ray of sunshine. I’m very lucky to have him, too.”

Boa nodded, then opened his door, “Okay, enough culture shock for today! Now we focus on you and your wonderful new wardrobe. Or at least a week’s worth of clothes? I’m sure between Papyrus, Sans, Charm, and I, we can find a good conservator and get your things fixed and cleaned by then.”

That works for you, and you get out and lock the door behind you. The two of you walk into the shop and Boa looks eager now, all gloom gone and his bones gleaming white again. “OH, Y/n, there are so many options! They’re all a little conservative for my taste but they’re sure to work for you.”

Laughing, you nod and get to work. Clothes shopping is always tedious for you, but you at least know that comfy shirts are one size and dress shirts are a different one, at least at this store. Your everyday shirts are your basic graphic t’s, or maybe a colorful gradient of your favorite hues, and your dressy outfits consist of black pants or slacks and a fancy shirt. You went through the wracks of clothes, choosing seven comfy shirts, seven casual shirts, and three fancy ones. Then you went to the bottoms, picking out four pairs of jeans, black dress pants, and a pair of black slacks. Boa didn’t say much, just watching you, occasionally humming.

Then you got some more sleepwear, since MTT pajamas were nice but couldn’t be worn every night for the whole of your stay with the skeletons. So, you got some warm pajamas, and some cool ones. Four of each kind. All of them had pants because you were going to be living in a house with other people, thus you had to wear pants at all times in case others entered your space without warning. No flashing people.

But as you turned and headed toward the check out, Boa grabbed your arm, “Whoa! Human, where are you going? You didn’t even try any of them on to see if they fit right!”

“I…don’t care?” you were confused. You’d always bought clothes this way. “Trying on clothes just makes me feel bad, and I’d rather do it in my own home. I can bring them back for better sizes if they don’t fit.”

His eye lights widened, mouth ajar. Then he got a very stern look on his face, “I’m sorry, but as a tailor I can’t allow you to settle for bad fits. We’re going to the changing room, and you’re going to show me what you have there. I’ll tell you if it’s good or not, and we’ll make the exchange here. If it’s worth doing, it’s worth doing right the first time!”

A man in an aisle across from you yelled, “Hey, monster tart! Leave them alone!”

You yelled back without even thinking, “Fuck off, asshat, that’s my roommate!”

He glared at you, then turned away and left you alone. Boa looked sort of deflated, though, and you had to ask, “Hey, are you okay? I’m sorry he called you names.”

“Oh, no…with what you told me about humans, he’s entirely correct but…it did hurt to feel how much he hated me. Um…” He was fidgeting with his feathers, wrapping them tighter around his neck.

“Let’s get to the changing rooms, okay?” you smile. It was worth you being a little self-conscious if it made up for this horrible interruption of your time with Boa.

He nodded, working up a smile again, and taking you back to the changing rooms.

It took a long time, putting on each of your outfits and coming out to show Boa. You knew what size you usually wore, but he still had to peruse your clothes in a circle before he agreed that any given item was probably the best ‘off the rack’ fit you were going to get. You did have to wave him off when he asked about your underthings.

“Nope! I’ll buy them after I send you to the car. I’m not letting you see those.”

“Huh? But foundation garments are important to fit! I’m guessing you have your best set on since you were on a date before the fire bu-“

“Boa! Personal space rules!”

“Oh. Oh right, you have those here,” he looked very frustrated, but sighed, “Okay. I’m going to be understanding of the ‘cultural difference’ too, and let you keep your foundations private even if I don’t understand why. You humored me, so I’ll do the same. I’m sorry I hit a nerve again.”

“Okay. Apology accepted.” You felt like that Jurassic Park guy fending off raptors, even if it was just Boa. “Okay. Here are my keys, go wait for me. Feel free to turn on the radio or air conditioning or whatever you need while you wait.”

Taking the keys, he suddenly seemed in awe, “Oh…oh wow, you really trust me! A car is a big investment and you gave me your keys!” He giggled and took off, waving at you as he went. Seems that little gesture was enough to brighten him back up fully.

Taking a deep breath, you turn back and go to pick up some packs of underwear and sportswear. Even if you did want to keep these garments private, it felt weirdly empty without the colorful skeleton next to you.

Boa was bopping along to some bubblegum pop when you get back to the car. You put your bags in the trunk, which he dutifully pops for you, and then come back to the front and get in the driver’s seat.

“I really didn’t meant to step on your toes at any point, Y/n,” he looked sheepish as you started the engine, “but I want to thank you so much for defending me. Papyrus really has chosen a wonderful person, if you’d stand up to someone else when we’re barely acquainted.”

“That’s just being decent, Boa. I shouldn’t need thanks for doing the right thing, but I do appreciate you helping me with my clothes so I feel like we’re even.” You couldn’t have the endless thanks. It made you squirm, someone praising you for something that just came automatically. Papyrus had learned not to go overboard quickly, and you really hoped Boa would, too.

“Alright, but I hope you don’t mind me talking you up to my brother when we get home.” Boa looked out the window and sighed, “As different as things are, I really want Sweet-pea to see the surface. Um, that’s his name, my brother.”

“Charm told me about him. He’s a homebody, right?”

Boa nodded, “He had a pretty bad relationship that made him…reclusive. I try to get him to go out, but the porch is about the limit at this point. And not even the front porch either…”

“Well, if he’s half as good a person as you are, then I’m sure I’ll adore him,” you might as well encourage him, after all. He was a fascinating little skeleton, and his energy really made you happy. That and just how vibrant he was. That cute little blue star painted on his right cheek and the little jewel you saw (glued?) on the front of his neck vertebra were adorable. “Now, you’re going to direct me to the house?”

“Oh! Yes. Here let me look, I’m a visual direction giver.”

The neighborhood the skeletons lived in was full of ostentatious mansions. It used to be part of the Greek life in the university, but had fallen out of grace and now was owned by the richer folks around town or had been turned into high end apartments. You marvelled at the nice gated carpark that your new home had, as well as the white columns and dark grey roof contrasting with the bright red brick. You could see faded areas above the door, where the Greek letters of the former owners resided, but if you squinted, it looked a bit like a sideways skull-and-crossbones. You liked that.

“We’re back, everyone!” Boa called, and there was a sudden surge of magic that left you tingling.

You were used to this by now. “Hi, Sans,” you smile as you look to your right, and there he is, standing right next to you looking exhausted. Well, more than usual.

“heya, pal.” He looked you over for a moment, then hugged you tight. “sorry, just felt like it. was still worried sick all last night.”

You hug him back and feel warm inside, “Sans, you know I appreciate that you care about me so much, but I don’t want you hurting yourself doing it. Remember, you are allowed to relax.”

“you taking Dr. Kevin’s job?”

“No. I am not your therapist, you dork,” You still kissed the top of his skull though, since he was hiding his face in your shoulder. “I’m your friend.”

“yeah, okay.”

Patting his back for a bit, he finally let go, “okay, I’ll stop monopolizing the human, as my bro is sure to say if I don’t stop.”

“I’d also say it!” Boa had his hands on his hips, looking smugly at Sans, “But it was just too cute to see you actually showing an emotion other than tired.”

“I’M COMING!” Came Papyrus’ voice from the staircase further back in the large entry hall you were standing in. There were beautiful wooden designs in the floor, lovely geometric patterns of squares and diamonds and other shapes, and a small Moroccan style chandelier above made of white smoked glass and gold scrollwork. The golden wood of the floor was matched by the slightly curved staircase that led up to the second floor (where you assumed the beds were) and where your dear Papyrus was currently bounding down.

Your giggles bounced off the high white walls as he spun you, making you glad you slipped off your shoes while looking about, “I MISSED YOU!”

“You just saw me a couple of hours ago!”

“THAT FELT LIKE FOREVER WHEN I’M SO EAGER FOR YOU TO SEE HOW CHARM AND I HAVE SET UP YOUR ROOM!”

Charm was at the top of the stairs, smiling as he leaned over, “Boa, did you make sure they did good picking out their new clothes?”

“I did! I made them try everything on first, but they wouldn’t let me help with foundation garments!” Boa gestured helplessly at you as Papyrus set you down, looking confused.

“Before you even ask, he means underthings,” you might as well warn them.

Sans, who was in the corner, turned bright navy blue all over his skull, and you grinned, “That’s how I reacted when he tried to help pick them out.”

Charm just smiled wider, “Oh, Y/n, so shy but so lovely. Has Papyrus even seen your ‘foundations’?”

“I DON’T THINK THAT’S APPROPRIATE!” the mentioned skeleton clears his ‘throat’ loudly and then pulls you toward the stairs, even grabbing the bags of your clothes with one hand, “SO, LET'S GO SEE YOUR NEW ROOM INSTEAD!”

Up the stairs you go as Boa and Charm laugh, and you hug Papyrus when he stops in front of the last door on the left of the corridor, “Hey, at least I know why you were going stir crazy when they first got here now.”

“YES, WELL, SMALL BLESSINGS.” He gave your head a pat and gestured to the door, “LET’S TAKE A LOOK?”

“Yes, let’s,” you let go and open the door, gasping.

The room itself is a nice size, though you realize it was probably meant for two students to share, but you get it to yourself, with the full bed sitting low on the floor and covered in a swirling rainbow sheet set. The walls were a soft yellow that felt like an early summer morning, and the floor was covered in a mocha carpet that felt so nice under your feet. “Papyrus, this is wonderful.”

“I TRIED TO MAKE IT NICE FOR YOU,” he points at the bed, but you’re guessing he means the mattress, “WE HAD THAT IN CASE FRISK’S HUMAN MOM WANTED TO STAY WHEN WE HAVE A SLEEPOVER. BUT WE NEVER USED IT AT THE OLD HOUSE SO WE BROUGHT IT HERE AND…WELL, IT WORKED OUT. CHARM AND BOA HAD ALREADY BOUGHT THE SHEETS BY THE TIME I GOT HERE, AND THE REST OF THE FURNITURE,” being a lovely cherry wood wardrobe that matched the bed frame, chest of drawers, and bedside table, “WAS IN OUR HOUSE FOREVER AND I DON’T KNOW WHY. THE WARDROBE HAD A BUNCH OF OLD LAB COATS, SO I GUESS IT WAS SANS’ AT SOME POINT? BUT IT’S ALL CLEAN AND SHINED NOW.”

It didn’t strike you as likely that these classy, rather old-fashioned pieces would be something Sans owned, but why else would there be lab coats in it? But you didn’t mind either way. “This is amazing! I’m just…” You throw up your hands dramatically, “Look at it! It’s so beautiful and perfect and…and oh my gosh this is my room.” You start sniffling and put your hands over your mouth. You hate how emotional you are about this, all of this, but it was to be expected, wasn’t it? Losing your home only to gain a beautiful room in your boyfriend’s house and at least two new…friends? Would Charm and Boa count as friends yet? You weren’t sure but you did like both of them quite a bit.

Carefully, Papyrus lifted you up and set you on the bed, using his softest voice as he gets on his knees in front of you and holds your hands, “Just let out anything you need to, love. I was so happy to put all this together for you, and knowing I get to see you every morning now is so exciting. I know you need your space to process, because stars knows I would, so I’ll let you put your things away. I do have to go to work for a bit, but I will be back by six tonight.”

“Okay,” You give him a kiss, giggling wetly, “I just have so many emotions right now, but I’ll sort them out while I put my stuff away.”

A cry of outrage from downstairs, “THEY TRICKED ME INTO LETTING THEM BUY EVERYTHING!!!” and you laugh.

“DID YOU REALLY?” Papyrus looked at you as he got up.

“It wasn’t intentional, but yes.” You grin, “He had to leave before I bought the private stuff! I didn’t even think about Boa’s offer until just now.”

Papy scoffs, but he smiles, “YOU’RE CHEEKY, YOU ARE. BUT IT’S ONE OF THE THINGS I LOVE ABOUT YOU. ONE OF QUITE A LOT!” Stepping to the door, he sighs wistfully, “ALRIGHT. I’LL GO NOW, BUT WE’LL CELEBRATE YOUR HOMECOMING WITH A GOOD DINNER TONIGHT. I LOVE YOU!”

“Love you, too!” you call as he walks out, and you wipe your eyes before taking the bags of your clothes and starting the process of ripping off tags.

You don’t know what to do now. You’re done putting your clothes away, you feel a little more emotionally stable, but you don’t want to leave your room. So here you are, sitting on the carpet, staring out the window on the back wall (though it’s the front of the house so…?)

There’s a knock on your door, and being used to Sans, you ask, “Who’s there?”

“maya”

That’s a new voice. Kind of soft like Sans’, more in his range than Papyrus’, but lighter and slightly higher. “Maya who?”

“maya come in and meet my new housemate?”

“Okay.” You look at the door as it opens, and are interested when it’s someone that looks like Sans but seems to be wearing a dancer’s outfit under a pimp coat. He’s got a black tanktop on that’s cropped just under his ribs, with a bright blue heart in the middle of it, purple ecto down to the wings of his hips, which stick out over his tight black capris. He chuckles and his sockets even crinkle a little as he smiles.

“heya. I’m charm’s older brother. name’s sugar.”

“Sugar and Charm…you two sound like a breakfast cereal.” He snorts and covers his mouth, laughing a little.

“I mean, mornings aren’t really my things, but midnight snacks are good for me. so you’re the human that has little innocent papyrus all flustered all the time, right? heh, it’s pretty cute. Gives my bro lots to work with on learning how things work around humans, so I have to thank you.” Sugar gestures a little, “can I come in?”

“Oh, yeah, sit anywhere. I spent hours with your brother earlier, you’re more than welcome.” You still don’t feel quite like this is actually YOUR room, even if you know it is objectively. It’ll take a while to set in, so you don’t feel intruded on.

“yeah, he told me you two had a good chat. Also told me you were one of the most tense people he’s ever massaged,” Sugar plopped onto the floor next to you, his purple jacket with blue fur trim flaring out around him, the heeled boots matching said fur clicking as he put the bottoms together, “but I can get that. you’ve been through a lot.”

“Yeah…I really appreciated him doing that massage for me. It helped me not be teary while I was out buying clothes with Boa. Nobody wants to cry in public,” you shrug, and Sugar nods.

“hehe, you’re right. and boa’s going to get you back for not letting him spoil you on that. dunno how, but he’s going to do something extravagant to get you to accept his gesture of friendship,” He’s amused, you can tell by the glitter in his purple heart eye lights. Sans gets the same glitter when he’s about to tell a horrible pun just to make Papyrus react.

“Oh, I don’t doubt it from that outrage I heard earlier. But I do hope he realizes he can be my friend without gifts?” You look at Sugar and he nods.

“yeah, but that’s one of his love languages, gift giving. Me, I’m a cuddler, but he likes seeing his friends and family get happy about cool presents,” Sugar leaned on his hands in front of him, “so, what about you, y/n? what do you do to show folks you care?”

Thinking, you giggle, “Well, I guess Boa and I have gift giving in common, but I also like to just say it. Papyrus and I have been saying ‘I love you’ since before we were even dating. Yeah, he said it first, but I think he’d probably have stopped if I hadn’t kept going. It’s just so easy to say, when you believe it.”

“ah, a vocal one. That’s good. other than my brother, nobody else is really verbal with their feelings. That’ll be nice, hearing you and pap being so cute.” He chuckled, “ah, well, I also heard you like languages. How many are you fluent in?”

“oh,” you blush, “uh…I just started my language classes last semester, so just the one. I really would like to have at least five that I can read and understand, even if I can’t speak well or maybe write it if it’s something like Thai or Mandarin.”

“That’s a pretty cool goal,” Sugar thought about it. “so what do you plan to do with that job wise?”

“I want to translate, maybe for children’s books? Some of my favorites growing up came from Germany originally and I’d love to find something great and bring it to other people,” the thought of your career dream makes you perk up more. “What about you, Sugar? I know Charm is a massage person, but what do you do for work?”

He blinked, then laughed, “Oh, I’m an entertainer. I dance mostly, but I don’t think you’d like it.”

“Why not?” you think seeing one of the skeletons dancing would be a great time. You always thought watching Sans or Papyrus move was just fascinating.

“well,” he smirked a bit, “you enjoy strip clubs?”

You felt how big your eyes became as the heat burned your face, “Oh god no!”

He laughs, “See? It pays nice, since I found a reputable place, and I feel good about what I do, but for someone as sheltered as you, I figured you’d not like it.” Getting up, he sighs, “but it’s no harm done, sweetie. I just wanted to introduce myself and say I was glad we’re able to help you out when you’re down.” With a wave and a grin, he flounces out of the room, and you blink in mild shock.

Were….were you sheltered? You hadn’t thought so, you thought you were okay and reactions like yours were normal, but you supposed you could be wrong. Thinking back to what Boa had told you, you start to wonder.

Well, time to go see if you can borrow some of Papyrus’ text books. Thankfully, you were both taking Spanish right now, so even your language text book could be borrowed. You wanted to at least know you could put your hands on it when needed.

You’d gotten the idea an hour after Sugar left, when you were bored of pondering your state of sheltered-or-not, and now you opened your door and scurried over to Papyrus’ room. It was always spotless, or it had been the times you’d been over before the Sans incident. It was weird, realizing you hadn’t been back to his house since then.

His new room was set up just like his old one, about the same size, too, and you found his bookshelf easily. It was right against the wall opposite the door, after all. So you sat on his floor and started looking at the last lesson you remembered.

You were immersed in your studies, curiously glancing at future lessons, when a deep, gravelly voice said, “well well well, we got ourselves a little mouse in papyrus’ room.”

A squeak came out of your mouth, and when you looked up you did not feel reassured. Yes, it was a skeleton, like you’d been expecting, but he was so different than any you’d met before. His teeth were sharp, every one of them, and one was replaced with gold. A huge red dog collar hung around his neck, gold spikes all over, and he wore the tattered remains of a white muscle shirt around his chest. His most obvious features was the thick red ecto that spilled over the top of his black denim shorts and out the bottoms in hefty red thighs tapering off at the knee.

“Y-you’re one of his cousins, right? I’m Y/n,” it wasn’t supposed to come out so nervous, but this guy looked like he could crush you in fifty different ways.

His grin turned a little more into a smirk, “thought so. Name’s spice, sweet cheeks.” He came in and sat himself on Papyrus’ bed. “now, what exactly are ya doin’ in here with these books?”

“Mine are damaged from the fire, so I was looking over our lessons,” why did he make you feel like you’d done something horrible just by the look on his face?

“oh. yeah, forgot about that. heh, well, ain’t that cute?” He had his elbows on his knees, hands hanging between them as he leaned over to look at you, “really are a little bookworm, huh? sansy said you’re the one who got pap to go to school in the first place. wonder how that happened?”

“I really don’t know, but he seemed interested before I talked about what I do at school.” You didn’t like how his eye lights were analyzing every move you made, or maybe they were roaming over you, you didn’t know.

“yeah, sounds about right.” he leans back a bit, scratching at his cheekbone. “sugar said you an’ pap are peas in a pod, all shy’n shit about sex.”

“SHHH!!!” you are instantly on edge, looking at the wide open door and the skeleton who seems to have no boundaries.

He laughs hard, “Oh! Oh he was right! hahaha, oh shit, you’re turnin’ into’a tomato!”

Covering your face, you feel the fluster turning into tears because you can’t handle it, to the point you don’t notice when Spice stopped laughing and went quiet.

“hey, human. hey, you okay?”

You shook your head, and he groaned, “shit, I fucked it up. I was just tryin’ ta tease ya, an’ then I go and make ya upset. Geeze, no wonder I can’t get a date. ‘m sorry, okay? please don’t be upset or pap and sansy’ll probably dust me. wait, that’s manipulative, shit!”

He got up and ran out, and you heard a door shut down the hall. It took you a few moments to contain your fluster, but you finished your cry and gathered up the textbooks. You’d do your studying in your own room now until Papyrus got home.

Still, you’d now met four out of six of Papyrus’ cousins. And you remembered that one of them had voted against you staying. Was that Spice? Or was it one of the two you hadn’t met?

#undertale fic #reader x papyrus #underlust #lustswap #lustfell

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kawaiibobatea-blog · 6 years

Text

Chapter 05: Retaliation

Sans couldn't hide the slightly twisted smile on his face when he dug the paper out of his pocket. Glancing at it again, he felt the involuntary scrunching of the face before dialing the number on his cellphone. He didn't think that he would be able to get used to that name no matter how many times he had read it or heard it. The word in itself was strange, but to make it into a name. What had those parents been thinking? Had they been high? The white pinpricks of Sans' pupils lolled around in his sockets, focusing on the streamers up above. The ringing continued and he was starting to wonder if he had dialed the number right. He took the phone away from his face and read the numbers to himself when the screen lit up and compared them with the crumpled paper still between his phalanges. They were right. Figured. The one thing that he had actually had been able to plan, albeit hastily, wasn't going to come to fruition. Sighing, he had just been about to hang up when he heard a voice on the other end of the line,

"H-Hello?" The voice sounded out of breath, but it was trying to be hidden.

"hey. it's me."

"O-Oh. I wasn't trying to ignore you, I promise. I was in the shower and-"

"my brother and me are having a halloween party at my house. wanna come?" Sans figured he might as well cut her off before she decided to go off on a tangent that he'd never be able to find a break in, in order to ask her this question.

"Me?"

"you're the one i'm talking too, aren't ya?"

"Yes, of course!"

"my house is just at the edge of town, you really can't miss it."

"Okay! I'll be there soon!"

"see ya."

When Sans got off the phone, he glanced over and saw that Jason and the kid were talking by the table with the snacks and she had giggled at whatever the human had said. Disgusting. He walked towards the couch and was about to plop on it right next to Mettaton who was in the middle of trying to convince Napstablook to try playing a match of the fighting game they were playing against Muffet. She had the highest record of winning streaks amongst them. Of course, the fact that she had six arms probably had something to do with it considering she could press buttons and combos faster than someone with two hands could. However, before he could do so, he heard Grillby and Papyrus in the kitchen. From Papyrus' tone, he seemed to be getting either upset or really excited.

"I TOLD YOU A HUNDRED TIMES GRILLBY, I AM KEEPING AN EXCELLENT SOCKET ON THE EXOTIC BREAD!"

"I see that Papyrus, however, I'm worried that you may get distracted by all the festivities and forget to take out the garlic bread when necessary. So I merely suggested that I help you, there's no reason to get upset."

Eyes from monsters and humans alike turned to the kitchen and even all sound in the game had stopped. Papyrus was a sensitive soul and it was very easy for him to take even small gestures of kindness personally, especially when it came to cooking. It was the one hobby that Papyrus had and he was extremely defensive about it. Sans knew that Grillby was coming from a good place, but even still he had to be quick about running interference or else this could get ugly.

"ARE YOU DOUBTING ME!? I AM MASTER CHEF PAPYRUS!"

"I know that b-"

"THERE IS NOTHING TO SAY GRILLBY! YOU HAVE NEVER BELIEVED IN ME!"

"Papyrus, don't be like that. You know that's not true."

"IT IS! I, THE GREAT PAPYRUS, AM OFFENDED!"

Just as Sans had arrived in the kitchen and was about to comfort his brother while at the same time trying to reason with him so that they could come to a consensus. He had become somewhat of a master at the sport between Team Papyrus and Team Grillby through the years both above and underground. Yet, by the time he had gotten to his destination, a new player was on the field. Blue flashed slightly in his socket, quickly illuminating the kitchen which only Grillby seemed to notice and caused him to jerk his head up, his eyes a desperate attempt to calm his friend down.

"Paps, you know that Grillbs didn't mean it like that." She said, hugging his brother and patting his bony back. Papyrus almost looked on the verge of tears and he could hear the footsteps of the other Monsters and the other Human coming to see if the commotion had finally settled down or not.

"YES, FRISK, GRILLBY CANNOT TRUST ME WITH THE EXOTIC BREAD!"

"Oh c'mon Paps. You know that Grillby has always been supportive of you in everything that you do."

"W-WELL... YES. THAT'S TRUE."

"I-" She had begun again, but Sans quickly went to his brother's side, placing his arms between them and effectively separating them, moving his had to push the human girl away from him and his brother.

"don't worry, i can take it from here."

"... He's still my friend Sans."

"then i'll make sure to call you when i'm going away for a weekend vacation so you can come and spend time with him."

"BROTHER! SURELY YOU WOULDN'T GO ON VACATION WITHOUT YOUR BELOVED BROTHER, WOULD YOU?"

"no," Sans said, his eyes never leaving her. "i wouldn't paps."

Grillby adjusted his glasses and cleared his throat, breaking the silence that had descended upon the group of monsters and the two odd out humans. Jason had remained quiet most of the time. Sans supposed it had something to do with the fact that he didn't really know the monsters too well and it seemed to be more of a family or best friend sort of exchange.

At least one of them has sense. At least he knows his place. She should learn her's too.

To be honest, Sans was so on edge that if Jason had tried to insert himself into the exchange, he would've probably would've snapped. Seeing her with his brother, trying to comfort him like nothing was wrong had almost set him off. The remnants of the magic hiding just below his bones still continued to internally crackle and his phalanges to twitch needing a magical release of some sort. While he was in his own thoughts, it seemed like everything had gone back to normal because Alphys and Undyne had arrived with goods of their own... probably the same quality as Papyrus' current cooking skills considering Undyne was his teacher. Alphys.. well, it was the thought that counted. Even if Grillby was the only reason that he didn't starve to re-death, it was still a wide array of goods that were mismatched but somehow had perfect harmony, just like his friends.

"......... oh. I lost.........." Sans heard and looked at Napstablook who had glanced at the controller and then looked at Muffet and sighed. "I'm sorry........ I tried."

"Don't worry, Dearie~ You almost had me~"

"............ oh........ does that make me good?"

"YES!" Mettaton assured his cousin and smiled brightly, patting the top of his ever-present pair of headphones. Sans couldn't help but wonder if there was something he was always listening to or if it was like a security blanket for his friend. "THAT'S THE CLOSEST THAT ANYONE HAS EVER COME TO BEATING MUFFET!"

"...... really?"

"It's true, Dearie~!"

A small smile came onto Napstablook's face and if he had've had hands, he probably would've clapped from the excitement that was in his eyes. He wasn't very good at showing emotions, but it was obvious how excited the shy ghost was that he had done something that only he had been able to do.

"..... heh.... thanks."

The smile quickly faded from Sans' face when he saw that the couch had two more people on it, effectively taking the space that he had marked his. Even when he wasn't sitting on the couch, the other monsters didn't fill the space since they all knew it was Sans' spot. His socket slightly twitched and only more so when he watched her legs rest on Jason's thighs and a giggle parted from her lips. Both of them seemed focused on the game and were taking turns only to have Muffet's streak rise. He felt something in him snap, watching as the two snuggled down deeper into the couch, in his spot. Quickly, he took a step forward but was shocked when he was almost bungied back to where he had previously been. Upon inspection, Grillby was holding onto the hood of his jacket with a look on his face of obvious disapproval and exasperation. Sans' pinpricks rolled in his sockets and he shrugged his jacket back onto his shoulder. He looked back at the spot where the two humans were laughing and chatting with the rest of his friends. On the bottom left of the screen, Muffet's streak was at 45. Grillbs still had the same look on his face and Sans sighed. They had been friends for so many years that their emotions were practically tangible among each other and one would think they could communicate almost telepathically. Without Grillby, it was hard telling what Sans would've done.

Is it worth it?

He could practically hear Grillby's voice burning in his ear. Sighing again, he folded his arms almost childishly. The laughter between his friends at this unorthodox Halloween party. To them though, among the humans, every day was still Halloween (you know, being monsters and all), and since they didn't want to dress as Humans, they just contented themselves to be with each other in a small party. This wasn't true for all monsters through, but to Sans, these were the only ones that mattered (save the two odd ones out on the couch). So no, it wasn't worth it. He raised his hands in defeat, conceding to his best friend and older brother figure. Feeling the tension release on his hood, he turned back to Grillby and parted his mouth to speak but Grillby simply held up a hand and smiled. The smile, this time a genuine one, came to Sans' face but quickly turned wicked when he heard the doorbell ring. All of the heads turned to the door and some began to count all present. Grillby even looked confused. He went to the door and opened it,

"fall." He said and smiled, and then looked at the outfit that she was wearing. It was a costume. Granted, it wasn't a monster costume; just a simple witch costume with a shorter dress. Sans instantly felt bad because he hadn't told her that they don't really do costumes. "...oh." He had let her in and watched as all the monsters and the two Humans in his spot all looked shocked.

"Huh...?"

"WHY ARE YOU WEARING A COSTUME STRANGE HUMAN?" Papyrus asked as... eloquently as usual. Fall's face... well, fell. She looked extremely embarrassed and on the verge of tears. To her, it probably looked like she was invited here in order to make fun of her. However, that really couldn't be further from the truth.

"it's my fault." Sans said and hoped that Fall's tears would fade away.

"OH! YOU DIDN'T TELL HER DID YOU?"

"no, i forgot. hey, uh, fall. come with me, okay?" Sans said and put a hand on the small of her back and led her towards the stairs. He could let her roam around in the costume for the rest of the night. It's not exactly like it was a bad costume or that it looked... bad on her. In fact, she looked incredibly... amazing in it. All the way up the stairs, he made glances at her and saw that she looked saddened and still had a blush on her face from the embarrassment. "look, i'm really sorry i didn't mention it. don't worry though. no one was really offended and paps, he really didn't mean it to sound like that. he's just blunt and very innocent."

He opened the door to his room and let her inside. It was tidier than normal, but it still wasn't really up to standards for most. He was worried that it would be a turn-off for her or that she would look at him differently. Of course, he should've realized that she had other things on her mind. However, his apology seemed to sate her since her blush was slowly disappearing, and he noticed that it reached the top of her breasts that were peeking from the dress that showed cleavage. He opened his closet and sifted through the clothes to get her a large shirt. She was short, had to be around 5 foot even or 4 foot 11 inches. He went over to her and handed her the shirt, slightly embarrassed himself.

"Oh." Fall said, her blush returning to her face for a different reason. She took the shirt and looked up at Sans and they both looked away.

"i figured it would make you more comfortable. i'll wait outside the door and you can just leave the costume on the bed." Sans said and shoved his hands back into his pockets before exiting the room and closing the door behind him.

It wasn't long, but Sans found himself anxious. His friends weren't judgemental in the least bit and he couldn't care less on what the other Humans thought to be honest. This little mishap was his fault anyway, so even if they had wanted to be a little harsh, there was no reason to be. He hoped that his apology had been sufficient enough for the long haul of the night instead of just for the moment. In the next moments, Fall had opened the door and come out of the room. Her hair was in a bun and undone from the small decorations that had been there. The shirt reached a little passed her knees and she smiled at him and blushed again, looking down at her toes and curling them almost like shes was trying to hide from the world. She was cute. Before he knew what he was doing, he had placed a hand on the small of her back and led her back down the stairs back to where the party had been. Silence filled the room for a moment, but only a second had passed before Grillby went up to her and held her hand and dipped his head in respect. Leave it to Grillby to make things easier for everyone else. He was used to meeting new people on a daily basis.

"Hello. I'm sorry for the very awkward moment you had when you first arrived. My name is Grillby. I own the bar in town."

"O-Oh, yes. I've always wanted to go in there. I'm Fall."

"You should definitely come visit. I'll put your food on Sans' tab."

"Oh no.. I couldn't do that."

Sans shrugged his shoulders and waved his hand dismissively, "eh, don't worry about it. i don't think i'll live long enough to pay it off anyway."

"Don't monsters live centuries though?" Fall asked, obviously embarrassed at having asked a question. Even though Monsters had been above ground for about 10 years, there were still many things that some humans didn't know about Monsters either because they didn't ask or because they didn't care.

"yeah, that's the point."

"Oh, I see."

One by one, Fall was introduced to the monsters that were at the party. With each warm introduction, Fall seemed to relax more and more. It had to be awkward for her, after all, she had arrived in something that they don't really do and other than Jason, she was surrounded by people that had known each other for years. It could be a little intimidating. By the time, she had gotten to Muffet, a bright smile was on the human girl's face.

"Sans, what's this all about?" Grillby asked his best friend slyly.

"she gave me her number when i went to get groceries. she was my cashier. so, i called her."

"You sure that's all it was?"

"of course."

"Don't use this girl for a hidden agenda." Grillby warned and adjusted his glasses at his friend again.

"...." Sans took another look at Fall who had been handed the controller and watched as she sat down by Muffet shyly, but the smile had still never left her face. "i won't, grillbs."

Cheering filled the room and clapping sounded from all sides. Fall had a smile on her face and looked at the screen that displayed WINNER! and her character flashed on the screen. She had shockingly beat Muffet's streak. Muffet looked over at Fall and clapped two of her hands. Muffet was always a good sport and Fall blushed at all the attention that she was gathering. He was glad his friends were accepting her as easily as they were. He was also shocked that she was accepting them as easily as she was. He glared at the human girl and Jason and glared.

"W-What?" She said.

"... move." Sans said and jerked his chin towards the other part of the couch. Since Fall had one, everyone was moving around to different spots anyway in order to make things easier and get more comfortable. The girl and Jason hadn't moved at all during the whole time and he was tired of being polite. Jason had parted his lips in an attempt to protest, but she had silenced him before he could even get started. He watched as the two got up, releasing his spot back to its owner. He plopped down, listening to the familiar jingle of coins stuck in various places of the torn mustard yellow couch. It really was time to get a new one, but there were so many memories attached to this one, he couldn't see himself getting rid of it. He looked back over at Fall and she was looking around, trying to figure out where she would sit next since she was the champion now needing to be beaten. "sit here." He said and patted the spot next to him in his spot. She tried to hide it, but Sans noticed the blush on her cheeks before sitting down next to him, and not even paying attention to the sound that was made somewhere behind him. The next round had just started when Sans sat up and looked around.

"What's wrong?" Alphys asked and sniffed the air.

"MY EXOTIC BREAD!" Papyrus dramatically gasped and ran for the kitchen.

"What did I tell you, Papyrus!?" Undyne asked and followed after him.

"... I knew this would happen." Jason muttered under his breath and shut his trap when Sans glared at him. Smoke filled the air and Papyrus dramatically gasped again.

"Let's get the hell out of here!" Undyne exclaimed.

"OF COURSE DARLING! I CAN'T BE SMELLING LIKE BURNT EXOTIC BREAD!" Mettaton said and got up, bowls tipping over as well as glasses soaking the carpet in some places and covering it in fries, buns, chips, popcorn and various other snacks.

"I NEED TO SAVE IT!" Papyrus said.

Since he was used to things like this, Grillby just rolled up his sleeves to his elbows and adjusted his glasses again. "I'll get the bread, Papyrus. Just go outside with the others."

"PLEASE SAVE IT, GRILLBY!"

".... I'll try my best, Papyrus."

Outside, the group of friends looked at the smoke billowing from various places in the house. Sans internally sighed at what was becoming all too familiar for him. He looked down and saw Fall hugging her shoulders and shivering slightly. Sans undid his jacket and helped her put it on and knelt down slightly in order to zip it up for her. When he stood back to his full height, he patted her head and smiled when she smiled up at him, another blush dusting her cheeks. He didn't notice that out of the corner of his eyes, the girl that had the hand on her waist frowned and leaned against the blond man at her side. The friends were talking among themselves and Sans glanced at Papyrus who was being comforted by Undyne and trying to calm the pacing skeleton. The others in the group didn't seem too worried. Grillby emerged from the smoke filled home with a baking tray full of... what used to be garlic bread. Charred was too light of a word to describe the way that they looked.

"NO!" Papyrus exclaimed and Undyne patted his back. The others stayed in silence for a moment, letting him grieve. Unfortunately, someone had to say something stupid.

"Well... is there a trashcan nearby?" Jason had asked and had eyes dart to him so fast, he flinched.

"A... TRASHCAN?! HOW DARE YOU!" Papyrus exclaimed and picked up a... black brick of former bread. "THEY HAD LIVES!"

"Lives?"

"YES! WE MUST BURY THEM!"

Jason scratched the back of his head and looked at Papyrus and had to speak again. "But... why bury bread? Well, I guess it makes good fertilizer, right?"

"FERTILIZER!? HOW DARE YOU, YOU UNCULTURED SWINE!" Papyrus insulted?, and continued to cry.

"yeah, paps, we'll give 'em a proper funeral. like always." Sans assured his little brother.

"I KNEW YOU WOULD UNDERSTAND BROTHER!"

Fall stood up on her tiptoes and whispered to Sans, "Does this happen a lot?"

"you get used to it." Sans answered with a small smile and a shrug.

#Mikuxmew85 #Trouble #fanfiction #Frisk #Sans #Frans #Sans x Frisk #Frisk x Sans #Undertale

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kaliawai512 · 6 years

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Ooh! I would like to ask, and I realise this is a bit general, but if you could talk a little about your headcanons about the relationship between the boys and Ruby and Allandy, and I guess of how the trust between them might develop? Also, if you have any ideas about their relationship with the people of Snowdin? They must interract with them, and while Papyrus I imagine tries to befriend everyone, Sans is a little more hesitant to trust, so. (sorry that was kind of like two separate asks).

Not too general at all! Honestly, I just need a point in the right direction, then the headcanons just sort of happen. XD

The relationship between the boys and Ruby and Allandy was … very slow-going at first, to say the least. For those who have read Butterscotch and Bones, you know that even though Toriel showed nothing but kindness to the boys early on, it still took a long time for them - especially Sans - to trust her. It was similar with Ruby and Allandy, but even more so, because by the time the boys went to live with them, they had already started to accept the idea that people were okay with what had happened to them (even if it wasn’t actually true). They had lived with Gaster for weeks, had seen people admire Gaster, even try to encourage the boys to “give him a chance,” and so that wrecked Ruby and Allandy’s first impression before they even met.

Papyrus, of course, was the first to give them another chance. He could sense that both Ruby and Allandy meant well and craved the loving family they offered. Sans … was very shut down for a long time. He didn’t even speak more than one sentence to Ruby and Allandy for the first six months or so - Papyrus “talked for him” a lot. He didn’t try to cause trouble, and just sort of went about his day, not allowing anyone but his brother to get close to him. After six months, he chatted a bit more, but still didn’t open up about any of his issues.

Ruby and Allandy are both very nice, but neither of them were prepared for children with emotional issues - there is no training for foster/adoptive parents in the Underground, and unlike Toriel, they had no prior experience. Both of them stuck to being kind, though, and didn’t let their frustration at the slow progress affect their treatment of the boys.

Ruby is naturally more outgoing, but very gentle and affectionate. She works from home, but has a lot of free time, and did all she could to bond with the boys: making them treats, making games with them, etc. Papyrus accepted this immediately. Sans didn’t.

Allandy, on the other hand, is fairly shy, and works out of the home as well, so wasn’t around as much in the early days. They were more easily discouraged by the lack of response from the boys and chose to back off to give them some space, though still did nice things for them to show there were no hard feelings. For this reason, Sans actually came to trust them first, even though their relationship wasn’t especially affectionate. Sans won’t go to them for comfort, but he and Allandy have a sort of silent communication system for if Sans is upset; which is helped by the fact that Allandy is more emotionally sensitive than Ruby.

After the events of Blue, Sans opens up and is a good bit more cheerful, becoming more receptive to Ruby’s affection and initiating longer conversations with Allandy. Papyrus is, of course, thrilled by this. Even after that, though, both Sans and Papyrus hesitate to talk about the details of their trauma. When he gets a bit older, Papyrus will likely open up more, probably breaking down once or twice as the reality of it hits him, and Sans will likely start dropping hints about certain details to Allandy, who will clue Ruby in (with Sans’s consent), slowly drawing the new family closer and helping the boys heal. It will be a long, long process, but they’ll get there.

As for their relationships with the townsfolk, Papyrus continues to grow more and more outgoing and open with Ruby’s encouragement, and endears himself in the eyes of the town - unlike in canon, though, he is able to make friends more easily with Ruby’s support. Sans sticks by himself most of the time, content with his family, but Papyrus drags him to social gatherings as they both grow more comfortable, and eventually Sans hears some good jokes and starts making some of his own, turning him into the “clown” he is in canon. He’s never quite like his canon self, though - the conscious memory of what happened with Gaster keeps him permanently more withdrawn - but his regained ability to glow with boy eyes lessens his depression.

Phew! That was fun. Thanks for the ask!!

#asks about my fics

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stripestheboar · 7 years

Text

Thirty-two

I’ve finally done it. I’ve written this…. monstrosity.

For the record, I love Horrortale. It’s my favorite AU in Undertale, but this had to be made. I enjoyed writing this, I really did. Please, read at your own risk. Horrortale belongs to @sour-apple-studios.

Word count: 3,996

WARNING: What you are about to read is STRICTLY torture. That’s it. A little bit of dialogue, but the rest is just one character torturing another. Please, exit now if you have an aversion to mutilation or torture, especially around the mouth and teeth. You have been warned.

And in case you’re wondering, no. There is no cannibalism.

“You want to what?” Undyne hissed, spinning around to face Papyrus.

The guard flinched at the harsh tone of her voice, but did not back down. He had been holding this back for too long, now. “M-my apologies, E-Empress Undyne,” he stuttered anxiously, giving a quick bow as a sign of respect, “but I wish to no longer be apart of the Royal Guard.”

Undyne stared hard at her underling. Despite only having one eye, Papyrus felt like she was staring directly into his soul. She took a step towards him, instinctively causing him to stumble back slightly.

“Why?” she asked, surprising Papyrus. He stood there for a brief moment, thinking of how to respond. As usual, he decided to answer truthfully. “Well, you see, madam, you are very good at what you do,” he started, choosing his words delicately. “But your training has left my with marks and scars all around.” “So? It’s the Guard. You’re bound to get a few marks,” Undyne reasoned, crossing her arms. “Well, that may be true,” he responded, “but it’s actually started to affect me long term. My brother and I have concluded that you may be getting a bit too-”

“Your brother?” Undyne snapped, startling Papyrus. “He put you up to this shit? God fucking damn it, I knew I should have put speared a few ribs of that fucking-”

“Undyne, calm down!” Papyrus begged, actually being bold enough to cut off his superior. She snapped her head up at him, a bewildered yet daring him to go on. “I-I-I know you’re u-upset, but this was my decision, and I-” “Your decision my ass!” Undyne snapped, lurching forward and grabbing him by the ulna. “He just wants you out just to spite me, huh? Does he even care that a human just plowed through, killing all those monsters we knew with friends and family? Doesn’t he get that?” Papyrus jumped in surprise as he tried to pull his arm away, but to know avail. Her grip only became tighter. “Where was Sans when Asgore was slain? When all his friends were being killed? When the other guards were being picked off?” Papyrus could see a light shimmer in her remaining eye, but was too busy trying to escape Undyne’s hand gripping his other arm to really note it. “So why the fuck are you listening to him? I thought we were friends, Pap. What happened to that?”

“Undyne, you’re hurting me,” Papyrus whimpered, unable to get his arms out of the lock. “Th-this was the point I was trying to make! Your m-m-methods cause a lot of pai-”

“Hurting you?” Undyne growled. “I’m hurting you? Is this what this is all about?” Papyrus took another step back, fear clearly showing in his sockets. Undyne was on a tirade. “I’m hurting you? Well, excuse-fucking-me, then! I thought you were the Great Papyrus!” she roared, getting louder the more she went on. She stepped closer towards him, forcing the skeleton back until his bottom hit the table. He took a quick second to look down at the surface. That was a bad idea. With another dose of rage shooting through her, she stomped on one of his boots hard, rendering him unable to walk any further. With a snarl, she slammed Papyrus’ back against the tabletop. She could hear a few pops from his spine due to being bent at a ninety-degree angle; Papyrus obviously felt it, as he cringed like no other. Still, she couldn’t feel sympathetic.

“What? Are a few nicks and scratches worse than seeing your fellow monsters die around you?” she snapped. “This is what you chose, Papyrus. You wanted to protect monsters!” Papyrus tried vainly to struggle under her. “Is this worse than knowing you couldn’t save your friends?” She wrapped her hand around his lumbar vertebrae and yanked upwards, causing a loud crack to flood the room, followed by a strangled cry from the monster under her. “Is this worse than knowing you let our freedom slip by, leaving behind over a few dozen dusted monsters?” She landed a good punch to his battle body, listening to the snap that seemed to echo throughout the room, drowned out by a tortured yell.

Undyne’s sight wandered, almost blinded from everything else due to her rage. But across the table, she spotted two knives. They were Doggo’s old weapons, given to her by the remaining dogs of the canine unit. He always was fond of non-magical weapons, but these knives looked pretty thin. She hoped they wouldn’t bend. Undyne held Papyrus’ wrists above his head with one hand, not hesitating to grab one of the knives, but where would she use it? Papyrus was far from fragile, but an easy stab to a bone could easily sever it, separating it forever. And then she looked at his face. He was already starting to cry, tears threatening to fall, roll down his cheekbones, and even onto his-

There they were. Large, pillar-like teeth that always seems to portray this confident smile. Like everything on Papyrus, his teeth had to be twice the size of Sans’. Perfectly white, large, and lined sixteen to a row; thirty-two in total.

Undyne had a brief moment of clarity. What was she doing? Was she really going to do this? Papyrus was her best friend. They had cooking lessons together. Good, sweet-natured Papyrus: He was the doofus that wouldn’t sleep until he got into the Guard. He was the one who believed that everyone deserved a chance to redeem themselves, no matter how atrocious the monster. He was the one who, well, was the perfect, dorky, lovable, kind, reliable, supportive, peppy, best friend anyone could ask for.

He was also the one who let the human just walk by.

She placed the blade of the knife on one of Papyrus’ top front teeth. He immediately quieted down, brow ridge furrowing in initial confusion. However, his sockets widened when he felt the tip of the knife slide over his teeth and on the edge of his alveolar margins, a sections of his skull that held his teeth in place. Fear spiked through his frame and he immediately began to thrash in place. After some split second thinking, she suddenly slammed the knife through Papyrus’ aligned hands, the blade slicing through his gloves and thick bone, embedding into the table. The skeleton immediately let out a scream of agony, unable to keep the orange magical tears from flowing and dripping down his cheekbones.

Grabbing the second knife, Undyne used her other hand to grab her friend’s shaking skull and holds it down in place. Papyrus could only watch with bleary sockets as his best friend took the knife and steadily placed it on one of his front teeth. He shut his sockets, unable to watch what happened next.

With little care, Undyne slid the tip of the knife into the an alveolar margin until it reached solid bones. Tears were already beginning to leak from the pain. She began to move the knife slowly, watching as the tooth was forced to wiggle because of it. Still, she dug the knife deeper until she reached what she assumed was the root of the tooth. She moved the handle of knife away from the tooth, causing it so also lean away from its original position. Once she had done that, the removed the knife and sunk the blade into the other side of the tooth. “What about Doggo, huh? Doesn’t he mean anything to you?” She sunk the blade and wiggled it until she felt it somewhat dislodge. She put down the knife grabbed the tooth. “Does losing him hurt more than this?”

Undyne yanked the tooth straight out of his skull.

One.

Papyrus immediately let out a tortured scream, his thrashing come with renewed energy as he vainly tried to escape Undyne’s iron grip. She didn’t let up, of course, and instead moved onto the next tooth on the left side, sinking the blade into the margin, ignoring all of the skeleton’s screaming. Now that she was a bit more experienced after the first tooth, it didn’t take her long to find the sweet spot and lock the knife in place. “What about Greater Dog? Wasn’t he important to you?” After a few wiggles on either side, the tooth became dislodged. “Does losing him mean so little to you? Does this hurt more?”

Undyne yanked another tooth out of place, carelessly tossing it on the side of the table.

Two.

Papyrus’ strangled cries of pain only intensified, wavered by heavy sobs and pained moans that wracked his body. Undyne wasn’t even beginning to be done with Papyrus, though. She repeated the action with the next tooth on the left, fixing the knife in the right position.

“Undyne, please! It hurts!” Papyrus sobbed, trying to shake his skull free of the knife. He didn’t succeed, however.

“Hurts, huh?” Undyne spat, dislodging the next tooth and causing another pained cry. “Does it hurt more than seeing Mr. Snowdrake sobbing over losing his son to that fucking human?” She grabbed the tooth and yanked. “Does it?”

Three.

Another scream of pain. Undyne felt nothing. She repeated the same process, completely numb to her inferior’s cries of agony.

“How about Ice Cap, huh? What did you feel when you heard he dusted?” Undyne demanded, her anger digging the knife so deep that an extremely large gash was left in the skeleton’s skull. This caused the tooth to become looser than usual. She didn’t even have to dislodge it this time. She grabbed onto it. “What did you feel?” She ripped the tooth out, using a great deal of force.

Four.

Papyrus’ strangled sobs poured from him as he still continued to struggle. Unyne put a little more pressure on his skull until she saw crack spider along the crown of his cranium. That’s when he stopped struggling and just cried.

Undyne dug the knife deep into the margins once again, not deterred by Papyrus’ pained whines. She had almost no problems with this one and easily dislodged it. “What about all those monsters in Waterfall? Does that make you feel anything?” she demanded, wrenching the tooth out with a twist and pull.

Five.

Papyrus choked on another scream, his sockets wrenched shut as more tears flowed from them. Undyne couldn’t find sympathy within herself. However, her breathing did hitch some upon seeing the state of the knife. The tip was slightly bent from the force of prying teeth from Papyrus’ skull. It should be good for a few more rounds, though. And so, with a bit of maneuvering, she shoved the knife into the next margin and easily dislodged the tooth.

“The monsters in Hotland got pretty fucked up, wouldn’t you say?” she reminded him, jerking the tooth out of its socket in the blink of an eye.

Six.

She immediately got to attempting to popping out the next tooth with no hesitation at all. Papyrus seemed to have just completely given up on escaping. He just let Undyne continue to hurt him. His mandible did move, however, whispering faint whispers that begged her to stop. Without a word this time, she just yanked it out, listening to another scream choke Papyrus’ mouth.

Seven.

Undyne began to pry the other tooth, but while trying to get the tip in, she realized it was no use; the knife was too bent. “Fucking human weapons,” she growled, frustrated with Doggo’s old tool. In her frustration, she tried to take out the next tooth by slamming the handle of the blade into the next tooth. Tooth. She was unsuccessful however, but did end up chipping the tooth. Chipping was a bit of a weak word, though, for the entire tooth broken in half. Undyne tossed the knife away in anger, ignoring the renewed screams below her. “Fucking useless.” She grabbed the loose tooth herself and yanked it out herself, tossing it behind her shoulder once it was out.

Eight.

She moved onto the right side of the top row of teeth. She didn’t own a pair of pliers or anything, so she would just have to stick with her hands.

Undyne grabbed the right front tooth, the size making it easier to get a grip on. She tried yanking it out, but it wouldn’t budge. A growl left her throat as she tried yanking it upwards, but she stopped when she saw cracks begin to crawl up the bone of the margins. She tried a different tactic and pushed downwards instead. This proved unsuccessful, as the tooth did tilt downward slightly, but ended up chipping when her hand slipped, sending her arm to knock out the bottom right front tooth.

Nine.

Undyne had a short burst of frustration and grabbed onto the main tooth she had been going for, completely tearing it from the socket. She looked at it for a moment before taking it and throwing it on the ground, chipping it.

Ten.

Papyrus’ screams were now just pathetic sobs, begging to be let go despite expecting death to be soon within his reach. Undyne looked at the remaining six teeth on the top of his skull. This was taking too long, though it wasn’t like she had a time limit. Sans wouldn’t come looking until Papyrus was done with his session, which was a full six hours away. Becoming impatient, she grabbed his skull, turned it to its right side, raised it, and slammed it on the tabletop. Nothing happened on the first slam, except for a few pained moans from Papyrus. The second slam, however, successfully knocked out a top tooth.

Eleven.

She continued on, only going harder in order to get those other six teeth from the top. She slammed again, this time chipping a bottom tooth before being knocked out.

Twelve.

Another slam. However, Undyne didn’t hear the cracks coming from Papyrus’ lower jaw. A top tooth came out this time, falling onto the floor.

Thirteen.

More cracks emanated around the room, but Undyne hardly noticed them. With another slam, Undyne scored two teeth at once, a top and a bottom. The top one ended up breaking in half before being knocked out while the bottom fell to the floor.

Fourteen.

Fifteen.

Some of the top four were slightly loose by this point. Undyne was able to yank it out like it was nothing

Sixteen.

Another she had to push inwards until it just popped out, falling onto the bottom of Papyrus’ mouth. She pulled that out and flicked it onto the table.

Seventeen.

The third one of the four she had to really put some force into in in order to wrench it out. She twisted and pulled at it, and slowly it began to loosen. Small cracks webbed along the upper jaw, but Undyne was able to yank that tooth out before anything broke.

Eighteen.

Now it was time for the last top tooth. A simple smash against the table should do the trick, and so that’s what she did, lifting his skull up and slamming it against the tabletop. She was a little rougher than she had intended, for she heard something snap once his skull hit the surface. She blinked in surprise and turned Papyrus’ skull to face her. Well, she was able to knock out the last top chomper, leaving his entire upper jaw completely stripped of teeth. It got a bit chipped on the way out, though.

Nineteen.

Undyne looked down at Papyrus’ lower jaw, her own jaw dropping slightly when she saw the damage she had done. For one, two of the the right teeth had been knocked right out.

Twenty.

Twenty-one.

The mandible, however, had taken some serious damage. The entire right side had snapped in half and now the lower half was overlapping the top broken piece. Because monsters can’t bleed, nothing really came out of the wound, but it looked pretty serious. Not only that, Papyrus had taken some more damage that Undyne had completely neglected to notice. Cracks spidered around his skull, some small and some looking as though they could split his skull open with one good smash. Only barely audible whines and whimpers emitted from him now. He had ceased all speech.

Undyne immediately felt worry grip her soul for the first time that night. “Holy shit, Paps. I might’ve gone a little overboard on that one, huh?” she murmured, trying to inject a bit of a forced laugh into her voice. Papyrus was understandably not laughing. Her hand was encompassed by a green glow as she worked to properly fix the skeleton’s jaw into place and heal it. Small whimpers left the broken skeleton upon feeling that comforting aura in a sea of pain and torment. The break in his mandible began to slowly mend together into one piece again. Undyne took this moment to look up at Papyrus’ sockets to see if there was anything to gain from that, but they just seemed empty. Actually, now that she had a closer look, his sockets seemed smaller than usual. Was that a thing skeletons could do? After a bit of inspection, though, she chalked it up to her seeing things.

Soon enough, his jaw was completely healed, including all the cracks that had made their way across the bone. “There you go,” Undyne whispered, her clawed fingers crawling up to softly rub where the break in his jaw used to be. A few more whimpers slipped from Papyrus’ mangled mouth, his sockets only showing trauma and pain. “All fixed now. We’ll be done in no time.” Her finger rose to another one of his teeth. Her nails slipped into the margins and her fingers gripped the tooth. “Tell me, Papyrus: what hurts more?” She wiggled the already loose tooth around in its socket. “Losing thirty-two friends, or thirty-two teeth?”

With a great amount of force, she twisted and yanked that next tooth out.

Twenty-two.

A strangled moan emitted from the skeleton’s mouth. He thrashed his skull more, but he soon just gave up again. Orange tears formed by magic trailed down his skull, the only real way to express his torment now that his voice seemed to just stop working.

“I can’t really answer that question for you,” Undyne sighed, slipping fingers onto another loose too and wiggling it around to get it ready. “I mean, I know what the first one is like. But the second one is a bit lost on me, y’know? Maybe you could answer that one for me, huh?”

Grip, twist, wrench, toss.

Twenty-three.

The rest of the teeth were pretty securely stuck in there. That could be fixed. She folded her arm and bashed her elbow into his jaw, immediately taking out two teeth, breaking one in half and lightly chipping the other into a sharp incisor.

Twenty-four.

Twenty-five.

The rest of the teeth were pretty much up for taking out. “So tell me Paps,” Undyne growled, gripping one of the loosened teeth. “What hurts more? This?”

Grip, twist, wrench, toss.

Twenty-six

“Or watching as a human just walk through, killing your friends?”

Grip, twist, wrench, toss, tears.

Twenty-seven.

“Hurting the people you love. Killing the people you knew and grew up with.”

Grip, twist, wrench, toss, tears, cry.

Twenty-eight.

“Making you watch as you can’t do anything to save them in time!”

Grip, twist, wrench, toss, tears, cry, sob.

Twenty-nine.

“Killing one of the only people that truly mattered to you! Who raised you and helped you and nurtured you and loved you for god’s sake! Leaving our home to fucking starve to death with no hope of escape but to kill some more!”

Slam, grip, twist, wrench, toss, tears, cry, sob.

Thirty.

“Tell me, does this hurt more than that?”

Thirty-one

Scream, slam, grip, twist, wrench, toss, tears, cry, sob.

“DOES THIS HURT MORE?”

With one final yank, the tooth was out of Papyrus’ now barren mouth, dropped into a pile with all the other chipped, broken, or otherwise whole pieces of his chompers. Undyne was breathing heavily, tears running down her cheeks as she finally got a hold of herself. She trudged over to a nearby chair and collapsed onto it, her mind reeling from everything that she had just done. No more whimpers or whines came from Papyrus; he had gone completely silent. The two just stayed silent. Every so often, what sounded like a sob would choke from the tortured skeleton, but other than that, there were only silent tears.

“I’m sorry about that, Paps,” the empress sighed after a good half hour, getting up. “I didn’t mean to go overboard like that.” She walked over two where she towered over him, her shadow falling over him. “But hey, hopefully this persuaded you into into staying with the Guard, eh?” Papyrus turned his head slightly. She wasn’t imagining it; those sockets had definitely grown smaller. Still, he seemed to understand her through the pain. A slight nod and a choked sound was his response. She didn’t notice that the tears hadn’t stopped flowing. “Good choice, pal,” Undyne chuckled, sitting on the table besides the pile of teeth. She picked one of the small pieces up. “Now, let’s fix you back up and get you home. I think you’ve had enough training for today.”

Sans stared with empty sockets, blue tears forming and beginning to trail down his cheek bones. He hesitantly raised a hand, reaching forward to gently touch Papyrus’ mandible, as if testing to see if the thing that had returned home that evening was actually real. “Oh my god,” he whispered, dropping his arm and taking a step back to take in just what he was seeing.

Papyrus sat there, looking at his brother with a tilted skull. His teeth were absolutely horrifying to look at. Just the simple look of it made Sans want to throw up magic. Each tooth had been pulled out and individually shoved back into place; very few were in the right position, though. Many teeth wouldn’t stay in place due to the gaping hole left by their extraction, so they had to be forcefully shoved back into the bone of the margins. Some stuck outwards while others were shoved in so deeply that they actually appeared smaller than the other teeth. And then there were the broken teeth. While quite a few were chipped, some were actually broken in half or shattered, causing sharp points and unnatural incisors to form. He could barely even close his mouth properly.

While Papyrus didn’t sound his pain, the rest of him surely did. Sans could still see the trails of when Papyrus had been crying, begging Undyne to stop. His sockets, however, had shrunken to about half their original size, a sign of trauma to skeletons. A few poorly healed cracks lined Papyrus’ skull that Sans would be forced to heal later.

What had returned to Sans that evening was a broken shell of his brother. Without the way Papyrus hid his face in embarrassment when Sans saw him and the way he clung for some sort of emotional comfort was the only indication telling him that yes, this truly was his brother, no matter how hard he tried not to believe it.

“Oh my god… what did she do to you?”

Papyrus remained quiet at first, before he suddenly lurched forward and embraced his brother. A small whine was heard, but it soon turned into sobs that wracked his frame as he buried his face into the smaller skeleton’s jacket. “I’m so sorry” played on repeat from the larger brother. Sans was slow to respond, unable to stop the flood of tears that poured from his sockets. In the end, he embraced his brother back, sobs coming from the both of them as they cried into each other, clinging to the only source of comfort they were able to find in such a dark, hopeless world.

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