#their nice voices + sweet conversation and affectionate behavior and the background noise of the game | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

septic-skele · 3 years

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UF - Out of Reach

Summary: Classic and Blue have it good with their brothers. They make displays of love and affection look so easy. Red can’t help but feel bitter about it. He stands no chance of ever having anything like that with his boss.

Well, not with that attitude about it, Blue says.

Red couldn’t understand it. Logically he figured it was because Classic and Blue came from drastically different backgrounds. They weren’t living with eye sockets in the back of their heads or half-formed, sharpened bones under their pillows like he and Boss did. They were probably just as baffled about him and his behavior, but there was something Blue had said once that wouldn’t leave his mind.

Red had walked in on a private moment and for reasons beyond him, he hadn’t taken a hasty shortcut back out. He stopped and stared and couldn’t help being taken aback when he saw Blue cradling his Papyrus’ skull against his shoulder, murmuring comforts to him. Red had never seen that casual, laidback Papyrus so drunk, weak and vulnerable, much less Blue so solemn.

“I love you, Papy,” he soothed. “I’d love you no matter the ‘reset’, whatever that may be—no matter the world, no matter the universe. A good, proper Sans would never give up on his brother, and I am just that.”

Good, proper. Red had no illusions of propriety but the idea of it nagged and frustrated him. Any time he had tried to console Papyrus in recent memory, it had ended with all the wrong things being said and door hinges buckling under the strain of being slammed.

Red already knew what Blue would say if he heard of this. “You can always try again! I believe in you, pal! You simply need to persevere! You’ll get through to him, I know it!” Disgusting.

The worst part of it, however, was that even Classic did it better than he could. Classic—depressed, cynical, apathetic, a liar to Papyrus’ face more often than not—still loved his brother better.

Somehow the six of them had survived a night in together, though the argument over the TV remote had almost come to blows and the throw pillows may have sacrificed some of their stuffing. Now that they were all retiring, Red wandered down the hall to hear strains of Classic’s voice from one of the nearby bedrooms. He didn’t sound anything like the blasé character Red usually knew; he was lighter, actually putting effort into this.

“…Peekaboo had become a game of hide-and-seek! Where could her friends have gone? Fluffy Bunny wondered, bounding across the green, green field to look for them. She searched high! She searched low!”

“She searched near and far,” Papyrus chimed in.

“You bet she did. She searched east and west, under rocks and up in trees. But Fluffy Bunny couldn’t find her friends anywhere! Wherever could they be?”

Maybe they ditched her for wantin’ to play such stupid games, Red mused with a snort, although as Classic continued he was distracted by an old, old memory fluttering forth.

He had spent hours poring over the dump, fishing out as many old, damaged books as he could find. Drained and shivering, he’d lugged them back to the nook where he’d left Papyrus, safely out of sight. Before he could find sleep, Papyrus had thrown himself over Red’s back and pitched a fit about learning how to read.

“Show me, brother! I want to do it like you do, I want to try! It doesn’t have to be the long one! Just show me how, please! Please, please, please, plea-a-a-ase!”

Red had capitulated only because he didn’t want the tantrum to draw unwanted attention, but that wasn’t the part that stuck with him. Papyrus had curled up against him, half-tucked under his coat, watching him trace letters with intent focus. As he haltingly sounded out the words, every small success made him light up like a star, clutching eagerly at Red’s ribs for his approval.

“Did you see that, Sans?! Did you hear me?! I did it!”

“Yeah, yeah. Pipe down, kid, I saw. Nice one.”

Red’s opinion and praise had still meant something to Papyrus back then. Stars, he was still willing to cuddle with him, despite the filth and the damp clinging to his clothes from the river.

Had Boss ever really been that hopeful, clingy little baby bones or was Red trying to convince himself that was how it had happened? It was so long ago. Pap could have just fished those books out and taught himself while Sans was away, trying to find work. That sounded far more likely.

“G’night, bro,” Classic concluded, sliding the book onto the nightstand and giving his Papyrus an affectionate squeeze of the hand.

Balking, Red ducked back toward the stairs before he could be found snooping, all too well aware of what Boss might do if he ever dared reach out that way. He’d probably end up losing a few fingers.

It wasn’t fair, something small and spiteful in the back of his mind huffed. The idea nearly made him miss one of the steps, torn between shock and scornful amusement. Since when had fairness ever been part of the equation? If things were fair…

If things were fair, they would probably look a lot like the scene he had just left, as well as the scene he was walking into now. Blue perched prim and proper on the end of the couch, surfing idly through channels. His brother was stretched across the rest of the cushions, head propped against Blue’s lap, swaddled up in blankets, the whole nine yards.

Jerks. They were intent on showing off now; they knew exactly how good they had it. Sparks of irrational anger crackled along Red's jaw and spine. If he had something immediately on hand to hurl at them, he would have, but he had already shucked off his boots and summoning a bone would be a waste of magic.

“Edgy me?” Blue called in a faux whisper, making him tense. “I would have thought you’d be asleep already.”

“Yeah, well, it’s kinda hard to rest easy with Classic jabbering on about fluffy bunnies through the wall!” Red snarked, louder and sharper than necessary. He took little satisfaction in the way Blue winced, resting a hand on Papy’s skull as if to muffle the noise.

“I’m sorry to hear that.” So genteel, so polite, he still offered an inviting smile. “If you’d care to come and join us, any of the chairs from the dinner table are free! Mweheh, I honestly have no idea how Papy sleeps like this; the side I sit on is the only one without mangled, broken springs. It’s probably all of his tossing and turning that’s done it. I’ve been meaning to get them repaired, but he hardly ever leaves the couch to let me at it! He really ought to—”

“Shut up already, would’ja? I don’t care! Besides—Tch, wouldn’t want to interrupt your cute little ‘brother bonding’ time.”

“Oh, no, y-you’re not interrupting anything! Did I imply that somehow? I’m sorry! If you want part of the couch, I can wake him and ask him to scoot over—”

“How d’you make it look so easy?” It broke free before Red could fully comprehend how irrational it would be to ask. Jaw clenching so tightly that his teeth squeaked, he drew back from his own brash demand. Blue tilted his head.

“I’m sorry?” That counted three times in this conversation that he’d apologized for nothing. “I’m not sure what you mean.”

He should have retreated. He should have spat, “Never mind!” and transported to his room to seethe in privacy. Instead his foolish, fat mouth blundered on. “How d’you get him to do that?” He threw an irritated gesture at the sleeping lump on his lap. “How d’you make him…relax, with you there? It’s as if he likes having you around!”

Even that was saying too much and yet just enough. Realization dawned in Blue’s eyes, followed by—oh, stars, there was pity.

“Well, I…I’m not really sure. If there are no other comfortable surfaces around for him while he sleeps, I’m happy to help! The last thing he needs is a cramp in his neck. Heh, I’m not tall enough to fix that for him so why not try to prevent it entirely? We’ve huddled up ever since we were baby bones; it’s always been this way.”

Of course. Cheekbones flaming, Red ducked his head. They never had raging fights that lasted until dawn (or until they started losing their voices, whichever came first.) Blue and Stretch had it all sorted out from birth, cozy and coddled.

“…Papy always caught cold too easily. I’d make up some rather impressive beds for him with grass and water sausages so he wouldn’t have to sleep on the rock, but the dew would leave him shivering all night! I couldn’t let that stand! Those chattering teeth of his kept me awake too so I made the noble sacrifice and slept on the damp side while he nestled up to me.” Blue chuckled, an uncharacteristic note of something laced through it. “With our two shirts tucked together, we could almost imagine a full hoodie like he has now!”

“Wh—You? That’s rich.” That was decidedly not what Red had been picturing as a life that could spit out someone as sickeningly sweet as Blue. “You’re not tellin’ me you two were homeless.”

“I preferred to think of us as explorers!” Blue corrected. “I told Papy that we were on an adventure to find the perfect place for a new start. We experienced all that the Underground had to offer a couple of wandering baby bones: scavenging, hide-and-seek, games of chase with older monsters, who were rather poor sports when they couldn’t catch us. I grew strong and magnificent thanks to all of that exercise and my brother…well, he tried very hard!”

Red shuffled uncomfortably in place. Funny, how familiar all of those experiences sounded—but from someone else’s mouth?

“Then Papy fell terribly ill. He was poisoned, in fact. It was the first time I really wondered if I’d lose him.” Ignoring how Red startled, Blue glanced pensively down at his snoring brother, smoothing his fingers more gently over his skull. “It may have been an accident, but I was responsible for his safety; I should have been paying closer attention. In part it was my fault.”

“And he…forgave you for that?” An accident like that, caused by a slip in Sans’ attention, could probably get him disowned.

“On the contrary, he blamed himself! He blames himself for a great many things and he thinks most of them can’t be helped. I try, I always try to help. What’s infuriating is that he acts as if he doesn’t deserve it. Despite what you may think, there are plenty of times he doesn’t want me around. He shuts down, he pushes me away, he tells me I’m wasting my time.”

Red’s eyelights flicked off.

“Shut up, Sans. I don’t want to discuss it.”

“You idiot! Get away from me!”

“Useless. What a waste of time.”

“I think he’s scared of what might happen if he lets his guard down…Perhaps he thinks I’m not strong enough to face whatever is underneath,” Blue continued. “Perhaps he thinks that if he lets me too close, it will be the thing to drive me away for good. Nevertheless! With time and patience, I know I’ll convince him.”

“But how?! How am I supposed to—I mean, how do you keep trying when it never does any good?”

“It does do some good, I’m sure of it! I keep pushing to help him so he knows beyond the shadow of a doubt that I won’t be driven away so easily. Maybe Papy just isn’t ready to show me the good it’s done yet. He has to learn to trust himself before he can trust me, but he can never say that I don’t care about him. I’ll show love to every part of him, even the bad, and it will be an influence for the better. I will break down those barriers!” Blue concluded with a fiercer grin.

A good Sans would never give up on his brother.

“Doesn’t it…suck?” Red ground out, hoping it wouldn’t be interpreted as an admission of weakness. Doesn’t it hurt? “When he shuts you out all the time?”

“Of course. I never said it was an easy task but it’s not within me to accept defeat!” Blue stopped up short then, holding his breath as Papyrus shifted against him. Neither Red nor Blue had been particularly careful about their volume.

After a few moments of adjustment, Stretch settled deeper into his blankets with a sleepy hum of contentment. Blue softened, eyelights aglow with such fondness that Red could almost feel a ripple of it in the air between them. It made his soul turn.

“He’s my only brother. We only have each other in the end. Isn’t that worth the effort?”

_____________________________________

If Red hadn’t been passing his boss’s room at precisely the right moment, he never would have heard it: a string of low, ragged gasps, followed by a rumble that could have been a groan or a growl. Sans grimaced at the sound, already aware of what was happening. Boss never made noise in his sleep unless he was injured, pain slipping through the cracks of his subconscious, or he was fighting a nightmare. Seeing as the last few days had been highly uneventful, it would be the latter.

Welp, that’s his problem. I’m not about to get impaled ’cause he mistakes me for his sleep paralysis demon.

That was habit speaking. Better reasoning caught him a few steps later, slowing him to a halt.

It would be easy to swan off, mind his own business and let Papyrus suffer on his own. It would have been easy to do it years ago too, when Pap was nothing but a scrawny baby bones who couldn’t have done anything about it.

If he hadn’t then, why should he now? It was Boss’s shouts in the morning that often woke him from dark dreams…He could return the favor and feel less indebted to him for it.

It was only fair.

Cursing his newly planted seed of a conscience, Sans pivoted with great difficulty and kicked a foot at the door with a small thump. No answer. He kicked again. The gruff breaths from within quickened.

“…Boss?” he ventured, clearing his throat roughly. “Hey. Boss.” Belatedly he realized that he had no proper excuse ready if Papyrus awoke and asked what he wanted. That might not go over well, but the circumstances were making it hard to focus. Those strangled groans were slowly but surely chipping away his first instinct of self-preservation.

He was definitely going to get impaled. One shot, -9999 damage and his life would be over, all for an attempt to be considerate, but he could hear it now in Papyrus’ voice. There was a scared little brat trapped inside the intimidating commander and that brat clearly still needed a big brother to drag him out of trouble.

Steeled for his impending doom, Sans jostled open the door. “Boss,” he began again as he poked his head in. “You’re makin’ noise, alright? You gotta—Whoa, whoa, whoa, that’s not good—”

Papyrus was a writhing, tangled mess in his blankets, some already torn where his claws had caught. Sweat and magic bled down his face, eye sockets sputtering and smoking in a flurry of colors as he choked for traction to cry out.

“Ngnnh—No, no—stop!”

“Boss?!” Sans stammered, surging forward. Of their own volition his hands got busy, dragging at the blankets to rend them free of Papyrus’ kicking legs. “Bro, hey! It’s okay, it’s just a dream!”

From there it must have only been a few seconds but to Sans it felt like an eternity before Papyrus lurched upright, already scrambling. He didn’t lunge to attack as Sans had expected but recoiled; it was only when he smacked his skull against the wall behind him that he came to a lurching stop.

“I-It’s just me, Pap,” Sans stated cautiously. He wouldn’t have dared use the old nickname under any other circumstances, but it seemed to clear some of the wild haze in his brother’s eyes. It took a beat for him to formulate an appropriate response.

“Get out,” he rasped. It didn’t hold a candle to its usual bite. He was still panting, disoriented. “What are you doing here?”

Which d’you want, an answer or me getting out? “I heard you…Well, I didn’t know if somethin’ was up. Maybe someone…broke in or somethin’, trying to get to you.”

“Oh?” Shoulders shuddering in what could barely be masked as a laugh, Papyrus shook his head minutely. “And what could you do to save me? L-Look at you. You’re not even armed.”

“And look who didn’t even wake up when I barged in here! The big, bad boss could’ve gotten killed in his sleep because he was too busy cryin’ like a—” By the greatest restraint he cut himself off, foreseeing how that would be received, but he’d said enough already.

“Get. Out,” Papyrus snarled, rediscovering vitriol enough for Sans to cringe.

“Sorry, I’m sorry.”

“Get out, you fool, this instant, or I’ll—!”

“I’m sorry, okay? I was worried!” That word felt taboo aloud. “I just wanted to make sure you were alright and you weren’t so I stayed to help.”

“There’s nothing you can do here, Sans; as always, you—you prove to be utterly inadequate! Your best course of action will be to close the door behind you.” Judging by the way his chin jutted out, he was clearly expecting that to be the last word.

“…No.” Tossing the blanket’s edge back to the floor, Sans squared up. “I’m not goin’ anywhere.” The incredulity that flashed in Pap’s eyes should have cowed him but he had resigned himself to that already at the door. “I’m not just gonna leave you here, all jittery and crunched up against the wall. I can’t leave you like this. You’re not fine and I know if I try to say somethin’ to make it better, I’ll screw it up. Like you said, I always do. So let’s just skip that part where I do it wrong and get to the bit where you tell me what you need. What d’you need to feel better and get back to sleep okay?”

The following silence caught him off guard. Papyrus was never at a loss for further scathing remarks so why was he just staring at him? Moreover, where had his anger gone? He looked smaller without it, less like the Great and Terrible Papyrus and more like…

Papyrus. Red’s only brother. Hunched down, hands fisted into the mattress, micro-tremors trailing down his ribs as he breathed, he looked exhausted.

A minute passed. Maybe it was two.

Sans fidgeted, his nerve failing. “Boss, listen, I—”

“Tea,” he muttered, hooded eyes darting away. “If you really want to make yourself useful.” Sans hadn’t expected his soul to fill his throat at that response; something must have shown in his face, as Papyrus’ next grumble was even quieter. “You’re acting uncharacteristically generous with your work ethic. Why would I pass up this opportunity to make you work in the kitchen for once?”

Sans felt oddly light at the words as he nodded, turning for the door. “Gotcha.” He had never thought this day would come. For once in his life, he saw doing more work as a victory.

If it did some small modicum of good, if it made one miniscule chip in those walls between them, it would be worth the effort.

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rightherestories · 6 years

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Happy Valentine’s Day

This one shot is about the videos and pictures we got of Justin and Selena on Valentine’s Day. This is very descriptive, so I hope it is not too many details for you guys. I really hope you like it, and remember to watch the videos if you haven’t yet ;)

...

“You know how good it feels to finally have a Valentine again?” Justin spoke. “And it being you. That’s the best thing about it all.”

“I don’t think we’ve spent this day together since 2012,” Selena recalled.

“Six years...” Justin trailed off. “Too long.” As they chatted he found himself move to the edge of his seat, wanting to feel closer to his girlfriend.

“Crazy how life got in the way for so long but here we are, six years later,” she mentioned nostalgically. “Thank God I was able to fly in and spend tonight with you. I wish we could’ve had the whole day, but this is so nice. Thank you for taking me out,” she continued.

She could feel Justin’s intense glare on her as she spoke, and she noticed his lips getting dangerously close to her own. As he tilted his head for easier access, she moved her face slightly, causing his intended kiss to turn into a sweet butterfly kiss, their lips touching only briefly. She shifted in her position, getting closer to his face as he read her signals.

“I know you want to kiss me,” he whispered as his face neared hers once again.

“Oh do I really?” she flirted back.

“I think you do,” he mumbled, his lips now only an inch from hers.

“Says who?” she went on, teasing him.

“Oh we can stop here if you want,” he breathed, both of them almost bursting with anticipation.

“Just kiss me,” she finally caved in as their lips met and they shared a passionate kiss. They kept their eyes closed as they moved against each other, never breaking the contact between their mouths.

They used their tongues to deepen the kiss, and they found themselves completely leaving out all background noise as they got lost in the feeling of being so close. When they did pull away for air, Justin kept his face close to hers as his soft voice spoke.

“Thank you for that.” He sealed his words with a quick peck before he moved his hand up to poke her nose and brush his finger over her cheek lovingly. He leaned in to place a soft kiss on her cheek, wanting the intimate moment to last just a little longer.

“Give me your hand,” Justin fought as Selena squealed in her seat laughing while leaning her head back, trying to remove her hand from his grip.

“You’ll just win again,” she complained, her bouncy giggles ringing through the air.

“Alright I’ll give you a chance, now give me your damn hand,” he insisted as he finally got a hold of her small hand, and they started yet another game of thumb war.

“You’re still not giving me any chance,” Selena chuckled when Justin’s competitiveness prevented him from fighting any less for a win. He gave in and stopped their little banter but kept her hand in his own.

“Wow, you actually gave in,” she widened her eyes jokingly, and Justin responded by trying to fit in as much of her hand as he could in his now wide-opened mouth.

“i know you always say my hand is small, but it is not that small,” she laughed at his actions as he pulled on her hand once again, this time leaving a wet kiss, sucking fiercely on her knuckles.

“What are you doing?” she shook her head and was about to pull back her hand when he tightened his grip and redid his actions.

“That tickles,” she giggled as he pulled back on it yet again and started placing soft kisses on top of it. He moved to one side of her hand, tracing his lips over the skin gently.

He shifted the grib on her hand lightly, only to repeat his movements. Selena placed her other hand on the side of his face, caressing him softly as their moment grew more intimate.

“You’re the sweetest,” she spoke warmly.

He lifted his eyes to meet hers in a soft glance and moved his other hand to help supporting her smaller one. He kept his eyes on hers, and it still surprised her how the way he looked at her could make her feel weak at her knees.

“You look so cute with your hair like this,” she noted and moved her hand to lovingly brush his blonde locks away from his eyes.

“It’s growing on you,” he concluded while still paying attention to kissing her fingers.

“I do like it,” she admitted. “I just like you,” she added sweetly.

“Good. I kinda like you too,” he responded charmingly. “And your hand,” he breathed, yet again pressing his lips to the top of her hand, this time moving his kisses up to her wrist and all the way up her arm to the edge of her sleeve.

“And your arm,” he finished as Selena returned his words with a warm chuckle.

“I can tell,” she smiled.

“This is my jam!” Justin exclaimed as he started singing along to some rock song playing on the stereo. As the chorus reached its climax, he put his finger in the air, screaming the last line. Selena threw her head back in laugher and snickered loudly at her boyfriend’s silly behavior.

“You’re drawing attention to us,” she chuckled as she came back into her previous position and looked around to see the many guests eyeing them.

“But this tune is the bomb,” he persisted, sipping on the straw of his drink. Selena smiled as she reminded herself how much she loved and adored this carefree side of him.

When the song ended, they fell back into a casual conversation and enjoyed the delicate drinks they had ordered.

“Are you ready for the game?” Selena questioned, the tone of her voice letting Justin know that she was excited for him. He was playing the NBA Celebrity All-Star basketball game in a few days and had spent a lot of time practicing recently.

“I am. But I really want to win,” he stated, his voice determined.

“Of course you do,” she smirked. “You’ve gone all out on the practice.”

“Yeah. I wanna do my best, and I gotta look fit in that Laker’s shirt,” he winked.

“Oh stop it. You look fit anyway,” she complimented, sending him a lustful smile.

“I’m glad you think so,” he uttered appreciatively.

“Well, you do,” she confirmed.

And without a warning, Justin got up from his seat, and for a moment Selena thought he was about to go somewhere when his lips crashed onto hers and moved firmly against her. She gave into his touch and moved with him until his standing position forced him to pull back. She placed her hand on his jaw, not wanting him to go.

“Come back,” she whispered faintly. Justin easily obeyed her command and leaned in to press his lips against hers once again, this time with just a little more force as he pressed her down slightly, earning a small groan from the back of her throat. He pulled back slowly, her lips dragging along before gravity forced her to let go.

As Justin sat back down in his chair, he started bopping his head up and down to the beat of the music, trying to cool off the heat on his cheeks that the kiss had caused.

“That was hot,” Selena breathed and received a knowing wink in return.

After a few moments of intensely exchanged looks, Selena was the one leaning forward in her seat, puckering her lips.

“Another one please,” she ordered. Justin was quick to lean closer, giving her lips a soft smooch. To his surprise she raised her arms, throwing them around his neck while her face stayed inches from his.

“I will never get tired of this,” she murmured, kissing his lips once more.

“Of what?” he smirked, needing her to say it out loud.

“Of kissing you,” she breathed, capturing his soft lips tenderly as Justin felt himself smile against her and she copied his actions.

When they parted, Selena got up from her seat only to move next to him. She threw her arm around his shoulder and rested her other hand on his cheek, cupping his face affectionately.

As she leaned her back against the wall, he followed her and leaned into her touch. He closed his eyes and exhaled loudly as he relaxed in her arms. She pressed her lips softly against his hair and kept her tight grip on him.

“You tired baby?” she asked softly.

“A little. But not too tired,” he explained, smirking to himself and earning a small giggle from the long-haired brunette.

“We can go home soon,” she suggested.

“Mhm,” he nodded his head against her chest.

“Are you taking your car to my place?” she wondered.

“I should. But I’ll hurry up and meet you there,” he promised.

“Can’t wait,” she whispered.

“Me neither,” he smiled at the thought of getting her all to himself in privacy. “Happy Valentine’s Day,” he moved his face so he could look at her.

“Happy Valentine’s Day babe,” she responded. “Love you.”

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