Hey... uh... remember that one time I said that at times I wonder what would happen if "the boys" were suddenly boys? But then I said I don't think I have time to write it?
Part 1 (yes there will be more parts, I just don't know how many or when)
"What happened?" Nightmare asked when he found them upon their return. They stood in the hall, soaked from head to toe in some foreign, orange-colored liquid. It was dripping on the floor, and Nightmare ushered them outside.
"the toriel of the au spotted us. she dumped this stuff on us," Killer shrugged.
"it stinks," Horror muttered.
"Yes, it does," Nightmare sighed as he had them stand in a line before he turned on the garden hose. He sprayed them off and then had each take a shortcut to their rooms to properly shower and dry off with the order to come to the kitchen for dinner when done.
This wasn’t the first and won’t be the last time they get stuff thrown on them. Their high LV does not exactly make them a welcomed sight.
While they were washing up, he made a simple dinner of mac and cheese, hotdogs, and mixed vegetables. Comfort food from what he had heard. They shuffled in, one by one. Each had dressed in their night clothing, graphic tees and some pajama pants, and sat quietly in the kitchen: no joking or light-hearted banter. And the smell of food made them nauseous that they were all but turning them green.
Checking them over, he could tell they were getting sick. "The infirmary, all of you…." Nightmare frowned as he watched them all move, shuffling off as if about to pass out any second. While that was not uncommon for Dust, it was highly odd for Killer.
Once he had them all in bed, he grabbed a dropper and vial and walked into the hall they had returned into through the portal. As he had hoped, there were still drops of that orange liquid. After collecting some, he took a portal to a particular AU to visit an odd Sans.
Walking through, he entered a lab and spotted said Sans sitting at a desk reading charts. Around him, there were multiple machines doing tasks—spinning bottles, scanning substances, and analyzing something. Sci, the Sans in question, lifted a coffee pot, drinking from it as he had long since discarded his mug to just guzzle the drink straight from the pot.
"I will never understand your odd addiction. Is it not better to get some sleep and work with a mind not clouded with exhaustion?" Nightmare said as he used a tendril to extract the coffee pot from Sci.
"not when you have deadlines to meet," Sci chuckled and looked at the dark skeleton. "so, what are you going to set me back an hour or two with this time?"
"This substance," He said as he held out the vial to Sci. "My men returned to my castle covered in this. Now they are sick with a fever and nausea. Even Horror is refusing to eat."
"horror's not eating?" Sci said as he raised a brow bone. "that is serious…." Sci took the vial and swirled the liquid a few times as he looked it over. "i'll get started right away. i'll call you when i've got any results."
With that, Sci hopped out of his chair and hurried to his workbench. Nightmare would watch, but he had learned that he didn't understand this sort of thing, and he would rather get back to the boys and make sure they were alright. Leaving Sci to work, Nightmare returned home and looked in on them. They were sleeping, still warm, but seemed peaceful at least.
With a sigh, he walked back to the kitchen to clean up. He put the food away… then checked on the boys. Put the dishes and pans in the sink to soak… then checked on the boys. Since the dishes were soaking, he spent time with them and read. But he couldn't focus; once he gave up trying to read, he finished washing up. When he checked on them again, his phone started to ring. Taking a few steps down the hall, so as not to disturb the boys, he answered the phone.
"Hello?" Nightmare said as he answered it.
"i won't get your need for calls over texts. you also know it's me, so i'll skip the formalities," Sci's voice said.
"Go on then," Nightmare replied.
"it's a potion… odd thing really, not sure how it works. the ingredients so far are just nonsense. like something you’d read out of a kids book about witches. tested it on some lab mice, and they all decreased in age."
"Decreased… in age?"
"yeah, you know, got younger?" Sci clarified.
"Younger?! By how much?" Nightmare felt himself start to shake.
"well, barely noticed with the one that got one drop… it depended on the amount as to how young they got."
"THEY WERE SOAKED!" Nightmare bellowed.
"well, it wasn't me that did it, pal."
Nightmare sighed and closed his socket, calming himself. It was no use getting mad at Sci. "Sorry, please continue."
"anyway, they all were listless for a while, then perked back up. the… youngest of the mice, i slipped into a litter of other wiggling pink babies with a mark on his back. but… so far, they are all still young but seem otherwise healthy. starting some other tests soon, but also continuing analysis of the potion. see if i can figure out how to reverse this."
"They still looked the same when I last checked on them," Nightmare pointed out.
"mice do have shorter lives and faster metabolisms; it's why they make good test subjects…. with the guys not doing well, i didn't want to waste time."
"Thank you," Nightmare replied.
"welcome, just… keep me updated, and i'll tell you what i figure out," Sci replied and hung up.
Nightmare looked down at his phone for a moment before putting it away. Before he could think about what he had just learned, a youthful voice called out.
"dad? dad, where are you?!"
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(Next)
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Save the Date by @mallstars
In the twelve years after the war, Harry attends sixteen weddings. As friends and acquaintances vow their lives to one another, he watches quietly from the sidelines. Step by step, Harry pieces himself back together, builds a life from the wreckage of his past and falls, slowly and thoroughly, for Draco Malfoy.
A story told in sixteen parts, of patient and transformative love, of queerness, of reaching out and holding on. Featuring plenty of pining, Gilderoy Lockhart getting married in a fever dream of glitter and product placement, and Rita Skeeter spitting a steady stream of venom at Harry and Draco's every move.
I was so ecstatic when @eevans22 sent me this absolutely gorgeous typeset of Save the Date by mallstars, as this is the final mallstars fic that I haven't read yet (bar now their two-days old Dronarry which you bet I can't wait to get my grubby little hands on) and the idea of reading it in HARDCOVER form was a dream too lovely to resist.
In terms of design, I wanted something elegant, hopeful, and clean to reflect eevans' typeset and mallstars' gorgeous prose. I matched an embroidered/beaded spine with one of my favorite of the Duo bookcloths: FLIEDER, which photographs terribly, but just believe me that it's a gorgeous silver/lilac/light pink, and matched it with our lord & savior, Renato Crepaldi endpapers.
(Sorry for the repeat photo)
I also hand-dyed linen thread chartreuse to fit the springtime/hopeful vibes & matched that to the endbands :)
I also am slowly, but surely improving with my construction, including the FLAT LAY, which has eluded me.
And them some typeset details from eevans, because it's so gorgeous :)
I am devouring this fic whole as we speak and loving it so so so much! mallstars, thank you for writing such amazing work, and eevan, for the lovely typeset! this was my first blind bind, and it was actually a super fun experience that i would absolutely repeat again for fics i know i will love :)
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