#I feel like Papyrus' design is a little more forgiving - like if you mess up a detail you can still be like ''Okay but that's like 95% him''

[undertalethingems]

Bark at the Moon, Chapter 5: Lapse

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Rating, Setting: Gen, Pre-canon

Chapter Warnings: None?

Chapter Summary: Papyrus is left to his own devices...

Papyrus rubbed at bleary eyes. Normally he was perfectly fine staying up all night, but with things being so stressful and hectic lately, he’d found himself sleeping more despite the threat of nightmares and his natural insomnia. He'd tried to stay up and keep watch, just in case.

But Sans had never come home last night. Papyrus had checked, in case he'd slipped past him while he napped,but the rooms were empty as ever. He found himself pacing the floor anxiously, at a loss for what else to do and his mind buzzing. He’d have to call Undyne and say he was out sick again… He hated lying like this, but he hated the thought of telling the truth more. He'd have to keep up the act. Well, it wasn't like he'd never done that before.

“Hello, Undyne, it is me, Papyrus,” he said into the receiver when it was time, sounding appropriately regretful. “Sans is still sick. I am still… you know. So. Neither of us can work. Again. I am very sorry.”

“Papyrus, it’s okay,” Undyne replied, sounding more sympathetic than she had a right to. “I know you guys are having a hard time. Just take care of yourselves and I’ll worry about the rest, got it?”

“Very well! Thank you,” he replied, and hung up, grateful for her patience. He laughed to himself--patience was not a quality he typically associated with Undyne. He'd have to make it all up to her somehow--he'd already slacked off far too much. But what could he do from his position? If only Sans had bothered to get his own cell phone...

Papyrus sighed. Maybe Sans had just fallen asleep somewhere strange—he did that sometimes. But what if someone found him? What if he reacted badly again and hurt them? He wouldn’t mean it of course, but who would know that? What if they were both found out and never treated the same again…?

Papyrus turned back to pacing the floor, a dozen thoughts whirling through his head at any given moment. Lunchtime came and went, and before long it was evening. But there was still nothing from Sans, and he wondered if this was how Sans had felt when he’d run away. His pacing trailed to a halt. How could he have done this to his own brother?

Tears, unbidden and stinging, sprung to the skeleton’s sockets and rolled down his cheeks. He sank to the floor with a hushed sob, shuddering. He missed Sans, had missed him so much, and then they'd gone and fought over what were silly, small things really! And now Sans had run away--he’d transformed himself after doing goodness knew what, blamed himself for acting on instinct, and almost given up on himself completely. He was in no state to be alone.

No, no, he was fine, Papyrus assured himself. He couldn't give up hope! Sans had been in a bad way, but he’d been bad before and always managed to pull out of it. He wouldn’t do anything foolish, surely--he had to believe in him, trust that he'd come back when he was ready. Papyrus dried his tears, took a few deep breaths, and headed up to his room to browse the Undernet for a while. At least he could see what everyone else was up to.

And he wouldn’t sleep, just in case Sans made it home tonight. Or the next night. Or the one after that. Whenever he came back, he'd be ready.

But it wasn’t a week before he got stir-crazy. The house wasn’t exactly small, but he was starting to feel like its walls were pressing in on him and there was no real room to stretch his legs. Sans wasn't here to take them out somewhere he could run freely. There were only so many times he could vacuum or scrub everything before cleaning lost its appeal too. He’d turned to Sans’ quantum physics books just for something new to read after he’d exhausted his own collection... but the subject made his brain feel fuzzy and his heart ache. Undyne was getting worried too, and he wasn’t sure how much longer he could say his brother was sick before she stormed over again to check on them. But he was too afraid of his past getting out to risk leaving the house himself. He’d wait—he was the Great Papyrus! This was nothing he couldn’t handle.

Nothing he couldn't...

 Nothing he...

 He paced the house, falling into a rhythmic path; doorway, living room, upstairs, leap down to the doorway and do it all again. It was moving, and moving felt good, so he kept doing it, over and over until he got tired. His claw caught in the carpet and he hissed at it before tugging free, and discovered it could be torn. Oh, fun! He dug his claws in and pulled with legs and back, ripping up a long strip of the stuff--only to be instantly filled with regret. No! This was making a mess! He didn't make messes, that was the brother he was waiting for, he knew better! He gave a sad trill and tried to put the carpet back, but it was too late. Though tearing it had been fun, he shouldn't do that again. That was bad. He went back to pacing.

Papyrus found a shredded cushion in his jaws. He wasn't even sure what had come over him--it was just soft, and looked nice to bite and--now there were bits of stuffing all over the floor. He... he hadn't meant to destroy it. He dropped the mangled cover and began sweeping up the scattered fluff, then tried to stuff it back into the cushion. But it wouldn't stay in, there were far too many holes, and he ended up pushing it into the corner. He'd deal with it later. After his brother came back. He paced for a while, then headed upstairs when he finally felt tired and curled up in his bed.

A loud, weird sound startled him awake. He waited, and it came again--oh yeah, he knew that sound. He got up and found the little black shiny thing that was making the noise and took it into his jaws... wait that wasn't right. It rung again, and the sound vibrating through his teeth startled him into dropping it. But somehow that did the trick.

"Hey, Papyrus? You there?"

Who--oh yeah! What was her name again--Undyne! It was Undyne's voice! She... sounded worried. He needed to make her not worried, he needed to--to think, to talk!

"Hhhrrhhhh--" he rasped, no, that wasn't right! Come on!

"Papyrus?!" Oh great, now she sounded really worried!

He rumbled a growl and coughed to get the right magic going. "HHHEllo, Undyne, there we go! Forgive me!"

"Er, everything alright there?" she asked, sounding a little less worried. "I haven't heard from you in a few days, and then it was like you couldn't talk just now--what's up?"

Papyrus blinked. Had it really been a only few days that he'd...? "It's fine! I just managed to catch the same thing Sans is sick with. We are both absolutely miserable!"

"Aw geez," Undyne replied. "Well, take care of yourselves, and let me know if you need anything--I'm serious. And if you don't, call me when you're feeling better, okay?"

"Of course! Thank you!" he replied, and she hung up.

Papyrus remained staring at the phone for a while. He'd slipped, let himself get away. Without enough to do, it was easy--even now he wanted to go back to pacing, circling the house like a trapped animal. But wasn't that what he was...?

Well, trapped, yes. Animal? Only in the broadest of terms. He wouldn't let this happen again, he was better than that! Darting over to his bookshelf, he pulled out all his books on puzzle design and spent the rest of the day devising new traps. Despite his claws getting in the way or tearing the paper, he drew blueprints and worked out calculations for mechanisms well into the night--anything to keep his mind sharp. A lack of stimulation invited stagnation.

He'd almost lost himself back in the forest too. Only his determination to work out a solution had kept his mind clear enough that when Sans found him, it hadn't taken too long to reawaken his thoughts once more. But with Sans gone, and his sources of entertainment dwindling... He had to be careful. He drew furiously, covering his floor with blueprints and books and ideas, and for a little while, he felt safe.

Papyrus startled out of a nightmare with heat lingering in his jaws and the smell of smoke filling his nose. Panting, he got to his feet, eyes fixed on the scorched carpet and wall before him. Sharp orange caught his eye, and he swatted at the embers still gnawing at the edges of his diagrams. He checked for more hot spots, found none, shook himself out and crept over to crack a window before retreating downstairs and shiver on the couch.

As much as he hated to admit it... maybe this wasn't something he could handle after all.

It had been a long, long time since he'd attacked anything in his sleep. It wasn't even the first time he'd had this sort of dream--thinking that his brother had died somehow was pretty well played out by now. It almost didn't phase him. But it helped that until now, he'd always been able to check on him, see for a fact that Sans was very much alive and his usual obnoxious self.

But Sans was gone, and had been for a while.

Before that, he hadn't been his usual, obnoxious self.

And a dream that he'd lashed out at their creator, and their creator had struck back and--it was just too much for Papyrus. Even for someone as great as him. He couldn't stand to be alone anymore, but there was only one person he could call.

Reluctantly, haltingly, he shambled upstairs to retrieve his phone, and returned as quickly as he could; the blackened carpet still haunted him. He sat on the floor with his hand hovered over the keypad, trembling. He wasn't really going to do this, was he? Admit he couldn't do something on his own, admit he wasn't perfectly okay and no one should worry about him? Reveal he'd been lying to Undyne...?

But he needed help, for getting food if nothing else--

But he couldn't admit what he'd done, or else she'd be furious--

But he wanted to talk to her, to someone so badly--

He backed away from the phone with a whine and paced around it for a while, torn between his desires until nothing made sense anymore. Lost in anxious thought, the sudden sight of the phone on the floor sent him leaping back with a yelp, and he fled to a corner where he could watch it. The phone was scary.

He flinched when it rung, and hissed at the sudden noise and light as he curled tighter into the corner. He wanted to get away from that thing, but couldn't leave. And it was bad that it was ringing too, he was going to be in trouble! But he couldn't do anything--!

He buried his face into the floor and shuddered long after the phone had stopped. And he jumped a good six feet straight up when the front door practically exploded. Back arched against the wall, he stared wide-eyed at Undyne, who seemed just as shocked.

"Papyrus?!"

He rattled.

In an instant, she was hugging him. He was stiff at first, unsure of the sudden contact--but something in his mind seemed to switch off, and he relaxed. He laid his head across her shoulders, after more than a few shuddering definitely-not-sobs, he sat down slowly. Undyne let him go.

"Hey Papyrus, it's okay. Can you tell me what happened?"

He whined nervously. It was now or never.

“G… gone,” he finally managed to croak, then coughed. “Sans is gone, Undyne... He... The day you came to visit, and I said he was sick, he took a shortcut out and I—I haven’t seen him since! He’s gone...”

Undyne studied him wearing a stunned look. “He left you?”

“Y-yes, though, I don’t know that he meant to be gone so long, I—I don’t think so, not after I left him… Unless… unless he’s still mad at me about that! That has to be it, why else would he...? He, he, he hates me for it, I just know it, I’m a terrible brother!” Papyrus cried, curling in on himself.

“Hey!” she barked, pulling his head up to look at her. “Listen up--there's NO WAY that's true. You matter more than anything else in the world to Sans, even I can see that! When you were gone, he got—he got so bad I don’t think he left the couch for a week. If he was sick, maybe it was some kind of fever dream..."

Papyrus shivered. "...Maybe. But he should have been back by now."

"Provided he's still alive..." Undyne uttered, then realized what she'd said and to who she'd said it. "I mean--! Of course he's alive! He's probably just slacking off somewhere!"

Papyrus couldn't help another whine. "But he always comes home... He's never been gone this long..."

Undyne furrowed her brows and drew back as she thought. "Hold on... If he hasn't been here, but I thought he was just sick... Where the he--uh, heck is he? He's just... gone?"

Papyrus rattled harder. Maybe Sans was dead. He couldn't keep his whimpering from rising to a keening howl.

Undyne winced as her friend broke down, and took his trembling wrists into her hands. “Hey, Papyrus! Listen--I wish you would have told me sooner so we could have gone looking for him. Both of you guys… it’s like, you don’t want anyone to worry, but then these problems aren’t things that just go away if you don’t talk about them, and running away won't help either. I was… I’m terrified we’ll lose you just because you never say when anything is wrong.”

Aside from a muted sob, Papyrus was silent.

“So come on! You want to find your brother, right? Good or bad, we need to figure out what happened. We have to go looking for him.”

“I can’t go out. I can’t. I can’t…” Papyrus whimpered, and Undyne sighed.

“Honestly? I don’t think anyone will recognize you. I know I didn’t, back when Sans first brought you back, and I know you pretty dang well—I mean, I didn't until you spoke. So I’ll do the talking, and if anyone asks we can say you’re a trainee from New Home or something, depending on where we’re looking. I just…” Undyne trailed, eye darting as she thought. “Look. I can’t rest until both you skeletons are back on your feet at 100 percent, because anything else has messed with you both something awful and I hate seeing my friends suffer. So come on. Let’s find Sans and give him what-for for making you worry.”

Papyrus studied her, then managed a soft laugh as he rubbed at his eyes. “Not too much of a what-for though."

Undyne laughed, and helped him stand. "I'll give him exactly the right amount of what-for, how about that? First things first though--I'll make us something to eat and then we can come up with a plan."

Considering he couldn't remember what he'd last eaten, Papyrus nodded. "An excellent plan, Captain Undyne! I'm afraid I've let my usual culinary exploits fall to the wayside, so... that would be nice. Thank you."

"Hey, no problem. Like I said, I wanna see you guys back at 100% sooner rather than later. Come on though, I'm not gonna do it for you!"

Papyrus leapt into action, happy to have the company, happy that Undyne wasn't mad at him. He was still worried about his brother, but they were going to do something about that too. In the meantime, an evening with someone as cool as Undyne wasn't a bad way to spend it. He'd slipped a little, but it was nice to have someone help him back up. Maybe together, they could help Sans too--wherever he was.

#undertalethingem writes #gaster blaster au #bark at the moon fic #papyrus (undertale) #Undyne (undertale) #it took me forever to do the chapter pic =u=;;; #it's hard to paint bones....

[keelywolfe]

FIC: Of Scientific Interest

Summary: Stretch  needs someone who can help him. He gets Sans. ...yay?

Notes: Oh, my spicyhoney fans. I feel that I should apologize for the implied kustard in this. It just worked out that way. Forgive me. I promise there’s still plenty of our boys. Also, mentions of therapy.

Also on AO3

By Any Other Name masterlist

~~*~~

When Monsters had first left the underground, the feeling had almost been indescribable, particularly for the skeletons who’d only been in this universe for a month. Their first sight of the sun came directly on the heels of learning they were never going home again. At the time, Stretch hadn’t been in much of a position to care. That came later, when the nightmares started to ease their hold. 

The first six months or so had been spent in cheap housing provided by the Human government; they had still been negotiating for asylum and while there had certainly been some wariness if not outright fear, Monsters had certain technical advances that had gone a different way during their banishment than humans. Scientists at least knew a good thing when they saw it.

So, for a while, most of them had lived in cheap manufactured homes and even those had been highly sought after. They’d had to set up a sort of lottery and families had moved in as soon as the paint was dry. Monsters had been so eager to see the sun and they’d been willing to live in whatever was offered.

By the time they had an official sanctuary the shine had come off that, but money from their various patents and deals had been rolling in by then. New New Home had been carefully designed, every square inch of the land they’d been granted had been utilized, and every Monster family had been given an opportunity for a new home, no pun intended. Most had taken it.

Red was one of the few who stayed in the Oldtown part of New New home, and seriously, Asgore needed to start letting other people name shit.

Where Sans and Papyrus, as well as Blue and himself, had chosen to live together, Red had stayed behind when Edge moved into his new house.

Stretch wasn’t sure why; at the time, Red had only shrugged and said he needed his space, and Stretch hadn’t been on good enough terms with Edge to ask. Bringing it up now seemed like more like ripping off a band-aid just to satisfy his own curiosity, so Stretch let it be. Whatever issues Edge had with his brother, if he wanted to talk about them, he knew where to go.

Today, though, Stretch needed a favor and he was hoping to catch Red at home; even more hopefully he’d be in a good mood. A text was a no-go. All that would do was give him a heads-up, along with a chance for little bastard to flee, so Stretch figured he’d just stop by. New New Home was small enough that he could shortcut through most of it, anyway, so it wasn’t like he was committing to a hike up Everest or something.

Besides, if Red agreed, they’d be doing enough heavy lifting later.

The contrast of Red’s house to their own was stark. Grass overgrown through a layer of fallen leaves, no flowers or welcome mat to soften it. The only reason he even had curtains was because Edge had left them. Stretch hadn’t been inside in ages, not since Edge had moved out and started hosting their movie nights in what was now their house.

It was, in a word, unwelcoming, which was also a pretty good word to describe Red. Fucked up worked too, but eh, that was two words and the house wasn’t that bad.

There might be regret for visiting, later, and it was probably just as well that Stretch wasn’t prone to nausea. He had a pretty good idea of how disastrous his house would be if he lived alone, and Red wasn’t the type to tolerate a cleaning service in his space.

If there were any crawly critters, he was out of here before they could infest him.

Bracing himself, Stretch knocked firmly on the door and waited. Minutes ticked by into five and he tried again, knocking harder. Another five minutes and he was going to give it third times a charm before going for the fuck it option and asking someone else.

When he reached up to knock, the door swung open, his knuckles connecting with air as a voice grumbled, “keep your fucking shirt on, waddaya want…stretch?”

It wasn’t the voice that clued him in, or the clothes, but looking down into a face that was unmarked by a crack threw him. Stretch blinked down at the other skeleton, in black shorts and a red T-shirt but unmarred by any cracks or damage; white eye lights, their teeth as blunt as his own, and he wondered if he’d finally tipped over into crazy.

“sans?” he asked, doubtfully, but then that was sort of correct no matter who it was, wasn’t it?

The lazy smile cleared things up a little more; Red always kinda smiled like he was about to take a bite out of you, Sans was a little less…sharky.

“what’re you doing here?” Stretch asked, warily. He didn’t add what he was thinking but it was probably written on his face as clearly as a dick in sharpie after a sleepover.  Sans, wearing Red’s clothes, in the late morning? This was a sleepover and whatever dicks had been involved probably hadn’t been the artsy kind.

“considering the side of the door you’re on, shouldn’t i be asking you that?” Sans yawned. “c’mon in, get off the porch.”

He peered around the door and was relieved to see none of his nightmares had popped to life and settled into the living room. There was a dirty dish or two laying around and the floor could use a vacuum, but it wasn’t even as bad as Stretch managed when Edge was out of town. It still felt uneasy walking inside. “i didn’t know you two were together.”

“we’re not,” Sans sounded amused, climbing up on the sofa and sprawling out. He wiggled his bare toes thoughtfully, “red and i aren’t real interested in your version of happily ever after, but we like to have a good time.”

Yeah, Stretch shouldn’t be touching this subject with a forty-nine and a half foot pole. He didn’t want to know about this, not even a little, and his mouth apparently had other ideas on the subject because he blurted out, “you’ll sleep with that asshole and not me? when I asked, you told me no.”

If anything, Sans only looked more amused, since he was also a special kind of asshole. But then, weren’t they all. “aw, you’re plenty fun, sweetheart. you of all people should know better. i turned you down because i could tell you didn’t really want it. just as well, anyway, seems like you like ‘em a little past waist high.” Sans gave him a narrow look, one that sent prickles up Stretch’s spine because that was the look of someone who saw too much, “that was years ago, why’re you bringing that up now? you okay?”

“yeah,” Stretch said sourly. He was pretty sure it wasn’t a lie. “that therapist of yours is all about digging up shit i don’t want to think about and dangling it in front of my brain. trying to get into your shorts qualifies as something i didn’t ever want to think about again, but here we are lingering on it like a fart in an elevator.”

“she does have a way with the gray matter, especially considering we don’t have any,” Sans agreed. “so let’s open a window and let out the stink. what do you want? red’s at the embassy if you need him. probably.”

“nah, i wanted red but you’ll do.

Sans’s grin went a little sharper and it ratcheted the whole uncanny valley resemblance he had to Red up to an uncomfortable level. “good to know we’re interchangeable.”

“yeah, i don’t need to hear anything about you two interchanging,” Stretch scoffed. That required a bare minimum of alcohol to even toe open the door. “what i need is help shortcutting something. the mass is more than i can handle alone.”

“what the fuck are you trying to move?” Sans sounded bored but that was normal. Stretch knew him too well not to see the glint of rising interest. “and why?”

“it’s a surprise for my hubby and if you come with me, i’ll show you.”

“nope.” It was impressive the way Sans managed to pop the ‘p’ without the benefit of lips. “i need to know if this is worth showering for.”

Stretch told him.

“are you shitting me?” Sans shook his head. “can’t be done.”

“yes, it can, i’ve done the equations.”

“the mass of the water…”

“i took it into account, it isn’t an issue,” Stretch said patiently. “you know i’m never wrong.”

Sans sighed. “your math is never wrong, i’ve seen you do equations in your sleep. you, on the other hand…and there’s always a first time for your creepy mental calculator to fuck up.” He hesitated, then warned, “if this doesn’t work, it’s your mess to clean up. you’re the one who wanted to marry the edgelord.”

“deal,” Stretch grinned at him. Not that he’d doubted for a second that Sans would help. He liked stupid experiments as much as Stretch and the only reason he’d gone to Red first was he’d known Sans would agree.

Red wasn’t his brother, was nothing like Blue but…he was a Sans. It was good to check on him from time to time, make sure everything was okay. Knowing that he was boning Sans was a little bit of a relief, if Stretch were honest; at least he wasn’t constantly alone.

Sans stood up with a groan, scratching at his hip where his pelvis was peeking over too-large shorts. “lemme shower and we’ll see what we see.” He paused at the bottom of the stairs, unusually serious. “do me a favor in return? don’t mention to the edgelord that i’m boning his brother.”

“i won’t lie, but i won’t bring it up,” Stretch told him, “i don’t have a bone in this fight.”

“good enough,” Sans shrugged. “it’s up to red to mention it if he wants, as far as i’m concerned.”

“yeaaaaah, so, do you think that’s more along the lines of a snowball’s chance in hell or leaning more towards hell freezing over?”

Sans grinned and held his hand out for a fist bump. “i think i’m too tired to come up with a pun to go with that, but i do know red would be chilly about me doing a big reveal.” He started making his way towards the stairs. “have a seat, don’t smoke in the house.”

Stretch eyed the sofa, “have you two fucked there?”

“not recently,” Sans called down, “can you say the same about yours?”

“i can say mine is scotch-guarded,” Stretch grumbled, and gingerly sat on the edge of the cushion to wait.

 ~~*~~

 Edge was the planner, he loved his spreadsheets and pie charts, whatever the hell he used. Stretch was more of a fly by the seat of his pants kinda guy and hoped he didn’t end up bare-assed by the end.

In this case, Stretch wasn’t ashamed to say he cheated. He’d turned on the tracking app on Edge’s phone and kept an eye on it until he was almost home. Then he darted downstairs to the basement and stripped, readying himself for what was to come.

He didn’t have to wait long. Barely, he could hear the front door open and close. Only a few minutes later there were boots on the stairs and Edge calling down. “I have to say, I appreciate your tactics more than I would breadcrumbs. Thank you for leaving the flowers whole rather than scattering the petals.”

“hey, romance ain’t dead but it can be tidy,” Stretch said as Edge came into sight, carrying the roses Stretch had laid out in an arrow to guide him. He swirled his hand through the heated water before raising his dripping fingers in a wave. “what do you think?”

Truth be told, Stretch wasn’t all that confident about this. He thought a hot tub was a little slice of awesome, but he wasn’t sure how Edge would feel about it. Anything that tipped the scale past neutral would be good enough, and hell, it wasn’t like they ever used the basement, anyway. It was finished, the walls painted and the floor tiled, and completely empty, not so much as a cardboard box tucked into a corner.

Until now. now it had a very nice hot tub tucked into a corner, the water steaming warm, with all the appropriate precautions for the humidity taken.

Probably the basement had been intended as a lab for Red. Probably. Stretch was gonna add that question to the list of ones he’d ask on the tenth of never. But this was his house too, so he figured they could use the basement for something else. His own lab would be a pain in the ass to move and he could just shortcut to it, anyway.

Usually, Stretch was an expert at reading Edge’s expression, but…right now he seemed oddly blank, his eye lights passive as he carefully set the roses down on the bottom step. “How did you even get this in here?”

“i’ll never tell,” Stretch declared. Taking refuge in silliness was automatic, a longtime source of comfort. “my mouth is sealed, you can’t torture it out of me. sans helped.”

Edge raised a brow bone. “You pried him out of my brother’s bed long enough to help?”

That was one question to check off the never-bring-up list. “why did they even think you didn’t know?”

“I have no idea. If they were trying to keep it a secret, then they should make sure their room isn’t next to mine the next time we are in a hotel,” Edge said dryly.

“okay, so as much as i would love to have a long discussion about sans and your brother screwing, you haven’t answered my question.” Edge only looked at him and Stretch tried to keep his face from falling, knew his smile was wobbling, “you don’t like it.”

Any growing disappointment was instantly converted to a squawk of surprise when Edge abruptly strode forward and climbed into the tub, clothes and all. His suit was sagging and clinging in an instant as he sloshed through the water to pin Stretch to the side of the tub, straddling his lap.

“Hm,” Edge nuzzled at his jaw, “it seems nice enough.”

“you nut,” Stretch could barely talk through his laughter, giggling harder as Edge licked ticklishly along his cervical vertebrae.

“Isn’t this what you wanted?” Edge asked, and yeah, there was no way his voice could ever sound anything close to innocent. Sexy as fuck was better anyway.  

“something close to it, yeah.” Stretch struggled to unbutton Edge’s sopping shirt. His bare toes found something that gave him a pause, “are you still wearing your boots?”

“I have more,” Edge ducked his head, his teeth grazed Stretch’s collarbone and abruptly he didn’t care about boots, clothes, or anyone screwing anybody who wasn’t him.

This experiment was getting marked down as a success.

  -finis

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

[cold-b-writing]

Bound Together: Part 16

Utadukeeus: "Where's Kaizer?" Frisk asked. "He teleported back to the ruins." Alphys said. "He's checking on Undyne and Asgore." "Oh my God, that's right!" Habriel gasped. "We left them behind!" Skywardsister: "Wait wait wait," Toriel moved in front of Habriel to forbid him from leaving. "We can't just go back to the ruins, my child! Who knows where Chara has gone? You know that you and I both aren't in the condition to fight." Frisk nodded in agreement, rather wanting to protect them since they've been protecting Frisk the whole time. They wanted to give back. "Plus, Undyne and Asgore are advanced warriors. They can put up a fight when it comes to Chara." Utadukeeus: "You're right." Habriel said. "Now, they have Kaizer with them to. And even when with me, Kaizer managed to really do a number on us." He looked down. "But, where will we stay?" Skywardsister: Frisk pulled out their phone and began dialing a number. "W-well, you guys can always stay at the lab," Alphys offered, scuttling over. "I know it may not be home, but it's kinda like a home. I can add beds to the main level for you guys to sleep in." Frisk held the phone up to their ear, waiting. "Hello?" They greeted. "Yeah, it's me, Frisk! We just went through a whole ordeal tha- yeah, you heard from Alphys what happened? Well, y'know how we can't go back to the ruins..." Toriel made a confused expression and Frisk mouthed the name 'Undyne' to her. Utadukeeus: Habriel wandered to the side of the room and pulled out his amulet. He kissed it and placed it back under his shirt. He saw down, as if in deep thought. Skywardsister: "Oh o-or you could just uh do that..." Alphys trailed off, hearing Frisk's phone conversation. "Oh! You guys could come stay here if you want," Undyne's voice answered through the speaker. "It's just not very roomy. I don't know if I'll have enough beds for all of you." Toriel motioned for Frisk to give her the phone, and they did. Toriel greeted Undyne and spoke with her about the housing situation, and concluded that there wouldn't be enough room for them to bed there for the time being. Soon, she hung up. "you could always come over to my place," Sans said. Frisk's face brightened. Utadukeeus: "Are you sure?" Toriel asked. "Do you have enough room for the three of us?" "hmm..." Sans thought about it. There was the couch, his room and Papyrus' room and that was it. "darn." he grunted. "W-well." Alphys said. "My lab still stands." Suddenly Kaizer appeared back in the room. "So, I heard you're not planning on coming back to the ruins." "That's right." Frisk said. "We're worried Chara might get us if we go back there." "Which is why King Asgore invites you to stay at his castle." Kaizer said. "There's more than enough room and plenty of security." "Absolutely not." Toriel grunted. Skywardsister: Kaizer folded his arms and raized an invisible brow at her tone and refusal. "Toriel, just set your differences aside with him for now! What other choices do you have? Just do it for the time being. Be grateful that someone has enough space for you and your children to stay at." Frisk squinted at her. Toriel rolled her eyes and grunted. "Ugh do we have to?" Frisk smirked. "You're acting like I would, Mom." They snorted. Utadukeeus: "You don't have to do anything." Kaizer said. "The King's offering you a place to stay. If I were you, even if I despised the King, I would accept for the sake of others that I cared about." "What would you know?" Toriel asked. "About taking care of others?" Kaizer reached into his pocket and pulled out a picture of a little skeleton girl. All that could be seen was her face. She wore an orange bandanna over her head. She had beautiful, sparkling eye sockets with eyeliner. She had one of the most beautiful smiles Toriel has ever seen. "You were saying?" Kaizer asked. Skywardsister: "Oh, sorry," She blushed. "C'mon Mom," Habriel said. "It can't be that bad. And it won't be permanent. Let's try." "Okay," Toriel gave in. It was just a few days, but even being near him during the fight against Chara had bothered her immensely. She did not take a liking to him after their past experiences. Utadukeeus: "Who was that?" Frisk asked Kaizer. "She's very pretty." "My daughter." Kaizer said. Skywardsister: "Well, you better get going," Kaizer broke the pause. "Don't want to impose on Alphys AND Asgore too much." Alphys gave a little embarrassed chuckle and simply waved it off, saying "It's fine! Don't worry about it." Toriel thanked Alphys, Kaizer, and Sans for their help, thanked Frisk for being patient, and they left the lab. Then they trekked towards the king's castle. Utadukeeus: The group were making their way over from the core to the front of the castle. Seeing the gigantic castle made Habriel feel better. If he were to choose a place to hide from someone, it'd be Asgore's kingdom. The small family were slowly making their way through the first hallway when a random monster approached them by the side. "What, seriously!?" The monster growled. "The King's really gonna let human trash in his castle?" "They let you in, didn't they?" Habriel said. Skywardsister: The monster snarled and slammed his face with his palm; when his hand went back down, his face was unamused. "Ugh, fine! Go in, why don't you?" Toriel yanked her children closer to herself, glaring at the monster. "Is there a problem, sir?" She inquired, watching the monster with a piercing gaze. Utadukeeus: Toriel, Habriel and Frisk were all giving the monster their own death stares. The monster, starting to sweat, moved out of the way. "U-Ugh..." the monster backed away. "N-no, ma'am." "Good." Toriel said, changing back from a death stare to a cheerful smile. Skywardsister: Toriel ushered the children past the monster, who went a separate way from the family. "Is he gone?" Toriel whispered, leaning over the heads of her children. They nodded after glancing around to see if the monster was anywhere nearby. They all proceeded towards Asgore's castle. Utadukeeus: "Hey, punk!" a familiar voice called. Frisk turned around and smiled seeing Undyne approach them in her armor. "Heard you guys are staying with the King! That's great!" she said. Kaizer was right behind her. "Maybe when you all recover, we can continue our training. And it'll be extra special this time. We'll have Asgore with us." "He's that strong?" Habriel asked. "VERY!" Undyne said. "He made me who I am!" Skywardsister: "Whoa, really?" Habriel asked, starry eyed. Undyne grinned. "Yep! He trained me to be the strong warrior I am today! And you're already getting super strong- soon you'll be just as strong if not stronger than me!" She pat him on the back. "Alright, see you guys later!" She strode off, waving them goodbye. Utadukeeus: "Remember, child." Toriel said. "There's still a couple things I wanna show you and Frisk." "Of course." Habriel said, nodding his head. Skywardsister: They walked until they reached the front of the castle. Toriel acted hesitant to entering the edifice, but Habriel and Frisk coaxed her inside by echoing their previous sentiments towards staying there. It was not going to be forever, and she should appreciate it. Utadukeeus: A beat up Asgore was waiting for then on the other side of the entrance. He stood there, smiling. "Howdy!" He said. "Would any of you like a cup of tea?" Skywardsister: The kids were bewildered. "What happened to you?" Frisk asked the gentle king. He didn't seem to care about his wounds at the moment, which slightly alarmed them. How could serving his guests matter more than taking care of himself in times like this? "Oh, this is just from the last battle with Chara," The king inspected himself where the children stared. Toriel chastised them quietly for staring, and they apologized and looked away. Utadukeeus: "I'm sorry, my king." Habriel bowed. "It was my spell that caused this. I take full responsibility and ask for your forgiveness." Skywardsister: "No, no," Asgore waved his hands in front of him. "It wasn't your spell, and it certainly wasn't your fault. Why don't you come in?" He beckoned for them to enter, and the children were more than happy to; Toriel held Habriel's hand, following him in. Frisk pointed out various parts of the castle to Habriel as they walked, and Habriel was fascinated by the design of the place. Toriel was bored. Utadukeeus: "And this...." Frisk paused and began to hold their head in shame. "This is judgement hall." they said. "Are you alright, Frisk?" Habriel asked. Skywardsister: They trailed behind with Habriel, waiting to tell him about the hall. Toriel had gone ahead a bit, and then they told him. "This hall," They whispered in a serious tone. "This is the hall where I fought Sans relentlessly in the genocide timeline. I... died over and over. Then he died. But that was then." They said under their breath. Utadukeeus: "Look at me, Frisk." he said. They looked up ready to cry. "You have nothing to be ashamed of. Everyone makes mistakes. Everyone had a story that they're not proud of. That's what keeps us level-headed and to have the will to do the right thing." he hugged them. "I don't think of you any different from when I met you. You're my sibling and I love you. You're gonna mess up. Mother and I will be there to help you back up. I look at you and see that genocide isn't your wish. Its quite the opposite. You want everyone to be happy, just like I want you to be happy." Skywardsister: They still tried to hold back their tears. They wiped at their eyes with their sleeve. "But... that's why we're in this mess. It's all my fault. That's why Chara's after us. It's because I was stupid." They wanted to hide their face again; they didn't want to keep eye contact. Utadukeeus: "And look at me." Habriel said. "If it weren't for me, the cathedral wouldn't know about any of you and wouldn't cause you all so much pain. If you truly didn't care about us, you wouldn't have reset. For that, you have my upmost respect, Frisk. Not many in your shoes would have built up the courage to own up to their mistakes and make up for it." Frisk hugged him getting his shirt wet with their tears. Skywardsister: "Still... Chara's after us because of me and what I did... I wish they would just let it go. I cared too much about everyone here to just leave everyone dead. I wanted them to live." They wiped away their tears and looked at Habriel. "Meanwhile, all you did was to defend yourself." Utadukeeus: "Maybe we shouldn't fight Chara." Habriel said. "Who knows, they could be in just as much pain as you are. Maybe the solution isn't to fight her, but save her." He hugged her again. "As for me, I look back to the people I've killed and I realize that I could have done it differently. I can't change what I've done. I'll have to see their faces in my dreams for the rest of my life. It was my decision to take their life. I'm glad that you can redo your decisions." "Children!" Toriel called. "Where are-" as soon as Toriel entered the hallway she saw Frisk and Habriel hugging and wiping their tears away. Skywardsister: She ran over to see what was wrong. Toriel bent down to wipe the remaining tears from their face and hugged both at once. They promised they'd tell her what they were discussing once they were alone. They then silently made their way forward to where Asgore was waiting to continue leading them. Utadukeeus: Asgore led them further in. "This is the throne room." Asgore said. The room was riddled with buttercups all over the place. "And my garden." Frisk held Habriel's hand and looked out of the window. Below it was Flowey, looking rather bored, hiding among the flowers. Skywardsister: Flowey was muttering under his breath when he heard the group enter the room. The noise caught his attention; he perked up, twisting his stem around and peeking up above the sill of the window to watch and listen to them. Only his eyes and the top of his head were visible, his top petal just reaching over the ledge. 'What are those idiots up to now?' He thought, straining to see them. "This place is always nice," Frisk commented, calmed by the quiet blooming atmosphere of the room. It was tranquil and undisturbed; it looked as if anyone who entered never trod on the flowers. Utadukeeus: Asgore led them further on, all the way to the end. "This is where the barrier once was." he said. "For a very long time...." Skywardsister: Habriel marveled at the vastness of the hall. He could see this place being the grand entryway and exit for all the monsters in the underground. This also brought back bitter memories for Frisk. The king remained cheerful throughout his tour of the castle. Utadukeeus: Habriel paused as he saw the silhouette of a woman on the other side of the barrier. She wasn't injured, or limping but she seemed tired. Habriel was about to take a couple steps closer, but Toriel put a hand on his shoulder, worried it might be Chara or someone else. "Wait a minute..." Habriel said. "Is that?" he gasped and sprinted to the silhouette. Toriel wanted to stop him but he had already made it to her. She could see the two hug. He lifted the female in the air an spun around. Frisk could hear a faint laughter echo in the distance. Skywardsister: "Huh?" They wanted to get closer, and Toriel wasn't stopping them from doing so, but they were still wary about it. Asgore was caught off guard and was interrupted in the tour when Habriel had run to the silhouette in the distance. He scratched his head in confusion. "Child? Who is that?" The king asked. Utadukeeus: They all walked up to Habriel and the stranger. The little child and the two goat monsters approached Habriel sitting next to a girl with dark red hair and wearing a dark red shirt. They were laughing and telling each other jokes. The girl turned and saw the monsters and gasped. "Wait!" Habriel said. The girl paused. "You have nothing to fear from these people." he said. "They're our new family and they'll take care of us." "How can you trust them?" she asked. "They've saved my life so many times, I lost track." he said. "I wouldn't be here if it weren't for them, I owe them everything." Skywardsister: "Thank you, my child," Toriel blushed and smiled happily from hearing her son say that. She held out a hand for the girl sitting next to Habriel. "It's nice to meet you, child. My name is Toriel, and I've been taking care of Habriel for quite some time now. That's Frisk over there," She pointed to Frisk, who waved and smiled too. Utadukeeus: "It's nice to meet you." she said smiling. "I'm Marion. Marion Weiss." Skywardsister: They shook hands. "Also, do you have anywhere to go, my child? I know some things about Habriel's past, and..." Toriel trailed off, not wanting to bring up the past too much, but she needed to find out if this girl had a home to return to or not. If not, she would offer to take care of her, as well. Utadukeeus: Marion looked down. "No." she said. "I've been wandering alone out in the wilderness for a while, now. When Habriel and I escaped. He distracted them so that I could get away safely. I'm so tired and hungry.... I don't want to worry him...." Skywardsister: "Oh my... Child, I cannot allow you to wander alone without food or shelter or anyone who cares about you. Would you like to live with us? I have a house in a section of the underground called the Ruins. I've cared for Habriel and Frisk for a while now. I understand if you're not comfortable, though," She added, realizing Marion might not trust her because of her past experiences. Utadukeeus: The girl thought about t for a couple seconds. She sighed. "Before you approached us, he said that he trusts you and that little kid with his life. He would do anything for the two of you. If you had any ill intentions, I'm sure you would have done something by now. If he trusts you, I will to." Skywardsister: "I'm really sorry about everything you've been through, my child," Toriel wanted to rectify the horrors that the children had to live through all their early lives, but didn't know if she could. She was just some monster taking in human children. It wasn't her place to do so, but she felt that it was her responsibility to keep them safe and help them feel happy again. And at least Marion knew Habriel. Utadukeeus: "You're serious..." she gasped. "You're really willing to take us in? Accept us?" "Of course, child." Toriel said. "I never planned to deceive you." Tears ran down the girls cheeks and she hugged the goat mom. Toriel gently brushed the girl's hair with her hand as she whimpered. "It's okay, child." Toriel said. "I'm here for you." Habriel turned and saw Marion crying. He approached the two of them. "Is everything alright?" Habriel asked. "Of course, child." Toriel said. "It's just a lot to take in-" Marion jumped out of Toriel's embrace and nearly tackled Habriel, kissing him in front of everyone. Skywardsister: Toriel stared in surprise and Frisk did the duty of covering their eyes and turning around out of courtesy. Asgore blushed. "I guess someone's happy," He remarked from feet away. "Can I turn around yet?" Frisk asked awkwardly, which made everyone laugh. Utadukeeus: They stopped kissing out of courtesy for everyone and hugged instead. "Of course, Frisk." Habriel said. "You're good now." Frisk opened their eyes and saw the two of them hugging. "You're gonna love it here." Habriel said. "Everyone's so nice." he then remembered his encounter earlier in the morning. "Well....mostly everyone...." Marion giggled and let go of him. Holding his hand. "Hey, Habriel..." she said. "Yes?" Habriel asked. "You must be a great Baseball player." she said. "Because you're great at hitting it off." Skywardsister: Frisk stamped their foot and put their hands over their ears. "Now I understand how Papyrus feels!" They exclaimed. Marion and Habriel laughed. "I can show you the ins and outs of the underground if you'd like. I know almost as much as any other monster here knows since I've been here so long." They told Marion. Utadukeeus: "Child...." Toriel reminded them. "With our new family as an escort of course." Habriel laughed. "I kind of almost died a few times so we can't go anywhere without them." "Really?" Marion teased. "What?" Habriel asked. "Not like I died....well....except for that one time." Skywardsister: "WHAT?" Marion yelled. "What do you mean, 'that one time?!'" "It's a bit complicated, my child," Toriel added quickly. "And we have tons of materials to help heal." Frisk began to inch their way further away from Marion by shuffling quietly and slowly by their heals and the balls of their feet, sliding sideways without making a sound. They didn't want to be judged by Marion based off of Chara's need for vengeance. They didn't want her to find out about the timelines so soon. She just met them; it wasn't fair. Utadukeeus: "It's a long story." Habriel said. "It doesn't matter. What's important is that we're here now, together." "You know what that means..." Marion said. "That's right." Habriel said. "Our promise..." Skywardsister: "Oh children! You're a little young for that, don't you think?" Toriel chuckled at their remark, making them blush with embarrassment. With Asgore feeling more and more awkward, he asked from the background, "Shall we go on with our tour then?" Frisk was still sidling away, and the king caught their eye. Utadukeeus: "Frisk, what's the matter?" Habriel asked worriedly. Frisk looked like they were ready to cry again. Skywardsister: "Why don't we explain to her the complicated stuff later? Like, much later? We just met..." They stopped moving away since Habriel noticed their movement. If they weren't careful, their reputation would be ruined. They didn't want to look bad, but this behavior was making things worse. They gritted their teeth, holding their head in their hands.

#undertale #undertale fanfiction