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wild-springflower · 5 years ago

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Old Enough to Know I'll End Up Dying (It's Torture to Love You)

Hoooo boy has it been a while. I actually honestly forgot that I posted this on here... the best place to get reliable for any of my works would be on my AO3, for which I shall provide a link!

But sorry this took so long, here is chapter 3!

Pt 1

He wanted to be angry, he really really wanted to be angry. But there would be a time and a place for anger, the hospital room with Christopher sat atop his lap and gripping his shirt like a lifeline was neither of them.

It had been almost five days, and Buck had scarcely left the hospital room. The others tried to get him to leave, but aside from watching Christopher, Buck had nothing else to do with his time. And he refused to leave Eddie alone. The others still had their job to do, Buck had no obligations, nowhere to be. Except by the side of a hospital bed.

Occasionally Eddie would show signs of stirring, but so far it had all been false hope, little mumbled words, shifting under the bedsheets. He hadn’t actually opened his eyes. And each time Buck felt his spirits drop a little more, his heart sink a little lower. He wasn’t sure how much longer he would be able to stand it, how many more times he’d be able to reassure Christopher that everything was going to be okay.

Day six they decided it was time for Christopher to go back to school; even if he wouldn’t be able to concentrate, sitting in the hospital or at home all day wasn’t doing him any good and he’d already missed too much. Although the staff was being very understanding. Perhaps more understanding than they had a right to be, seeing as how Buck had implied the injury was sustained while Eddie was on the job.

Day nine Bobby had visited the hospital and practically forced Buck to leave, promising he would stay and call him immediately if anything changed. So he and Christopher spent the day playing with Legos and listening to cartoons on the tv. The story they’d started what felt like years ago sat untouched by Christopher’s bed, neither of them having the heart to continue it. Buck thought Christopher was maybe leaving it until Eddie could come home, until things could go back to normal. Whatever the reasoning was, Buck respected the kid’s decision and didn’t push him on it.

The morning of day ten was when Buck felt the last bits of himself shatter. The two of them had fallen asleep on the couch, it wasn’t always the most comfortable place to sleep but it was easier for the both of them if they were together, and Buck didn’t feel comfortable climbing into Eddie’s bed.

Around 4am Christopher woke up crying, as he had almost every night since the incident.

“Hey, hey buddy, it’s okay.” Buck soothed as he attempted to detangle himself from their mass of blankets.

“Excepts it’s no-not, i-is it?” Christopher hiccupped. “W-we don’t even-even know i-i-if daddy’s gonna wa-wake up. Do we?”

Bucks’ breath escaped in one large rush, and he felt like he’d been sucker punched in the solar plexus. Before he could reign his emotions in there were tears streaking down his cheeks. “Hey no, we can’t think like that.” He whispered wetly, pulling Christopher in for a tight embrace.

“What’s gonna happen if daddy doesn’t wake up?” Christopher asked, his voice a little steadier although Buck could still feel tears soaking into his shirt.

Buck bit his lip, “I don’t know.” He said.

Christopher’s grip tightened on his collar, and he sniffled, breath stuttering. “Will- will th-they take m-me away? I don’t wanna le-lea-ave you.”

“No, no baby no.” Buck pulled back, large hands clasping Christopher’s shoulders tightly. He stared into Christopher’s eyes, waiting until Christopher looked back before he spoke again, maybe the most serious he had ever been in his entire life. “No matter what happens they are not taking you away from me. I will never let anyone take you away from me okay? I promise.”

Christopher nodded, ducking back against his chest and hugging him tightly.

Buck sat for a moment, breathing deeply, almost unable to process the conversation they’d just had. It wasn’t right, it shouldn’t have ever had to happen. And again, Buck felt anger boiling in his stomach. With a deep sigh Buck kissed Christopher’s head and squeezed him just a little tighter in his arms, blinking up at the ceiling to try and stop more tears from breaking past the dam.

Normal visiting hours at the hospital didn’t start until 10, but they’d been given special permission to visit whenever they felt the need to, Buck was pretty sure Bobby had done some sweet talking, and Christopher’s puppy-dog eyes had certainly not hindered the process. Still, he figured a full breakfast before they left was a good idea, seeing as how the food at the hospital was hard to stomach on a good day. Needless to say, Buck hadn’t had a good day in quite a while.

Eggs were the easiest thing to make, and the only thing he’d really learned to perfect before Bobby had gotten too busy to continue their cooking lessons, Buck had always meant to ask when they could start them up again, but something always seemed to get in the way.

The sun was just beginning to peak over the horizon when Christopher started pushing his food around on his plate, having only eaten a couple bites.

“Not hungry?” Buck asked.

Christopher just shook his head, staring sadly at the table.

“How about you take a couple more bites and then we’ll head out, sound good?”

Christopher perked up at that, “To the hospital?” He said softly.

“Yeah, but you have to eat a little more food, deal?” Buck felt slightly hypocritical as the last thing he wanted to do was shovel more food into his mouth, but he knew the both of them had to keep their health up for when Eddie was finally better.

“Deal!”

A little over an hour later found the two of them pulling up to the still fairly empty hospital parking lot and given the time of day it wasn’t hard to find a parking spot near the door. Sometimes Buck would grab the handicap pass, but he never liked to leave it in his car. It felt too permanent, less like he was watching Christopher for an extended period of time and more like things were changing. And he was not ready for things to change.

The nurses on their floor were all familiar with them by now, and all adored Christopher, so it was easy to distract him when he saw the doctor standing in Eddie’s room.

“Hey buddy,” Buck whispered, kneeling down so he was closer to the kid’s height. “How about you show Claire your drawings you made real quick.”

Claire gave him a gentle nod before also kneeling by Chris, “I would love to see your drawings buddy!”

Buck stood, mouthed a ‘thank you’ before he jogged over to his friends’ room. “Hey doc, is something wrong?”

Sophia had long brown hair that she always kept pulled back in a bun and smart green eyes that spoke of years of study, she was the best doctor in the hospital for their current predicament, and Buck found he trusted her easily. “No, nothing’s wrong, I was just checking the readouts. You’re here early.”

Buck shrugged sheepishly, “Couldn’t really stay distracted at home.”

“Listen, Buck, I know that this is hard for you. But this isn’t unusual for the type of injury sustained. Right now, just try not to worry. And, if anything changes, you will be the first to know. And we will cross that bridge if we get to it but worrying too much about what-ifs is just going to drive you crazy. Okay?”

Buck nodded, “I’ll try my best.” He smiled weakly.

Sophia gave a sad smile in response, “I’ll see you later.”

Buck watched her leave, his heart filling with warmth as she stopped to say hello to Christopher; he was always amazed with the way that kid could brighten anyone’s day, even when he was living a nightmare.

But his attention quickly turned back to the bed, and all the beeping machines. With his hands in his pockets Buck stepped closer and stared down at the face he was sure he had memorized. “You need to wake up.” He said.

“Hi daddy!” Christopher called from the doorway, announcing himself before he fully made it to the bed. It allowed Buck half a second to wipe away any stray tears and school his features.

“Come here buddy,” Buck hoisted Christopher onto his lap in the chair next to Eddie’s bed, “how about you tell your dad about the pictures you drew?”

Christopher nodded enthusiastically, pulling one drawing out from the small pile he’d brought with. “This one is us, and we’re all playing video games together.” He paused to pull a second picture on top, “And here we’re at the dog park, I know you said we can’t get a dog of our own, so I thought we could go there and just pet some!”

Buck chuckled at that, smiling at the drawing of a little Christopher petting what was potentially a black lab. “That looks really good bud!”

Christopher flashed a grin up at him before moving on to his next drawing. “And this is all of us at the beach. It’s still a little scary to be close to, but I know you like the beach daddy, so I thought I could be brave for you when you wake up and we can all go. As long as Bucky feels safe there too.”

Buck was saved from having to try and force his choked-up throat to function by a knock against the door.

Christopher turned around and smiled broadly, “Carla!” He called happily.

“Hello sweetie, how are you?”

Chris shrugged, “Alright.” He said a little more somberly. The shift made Buck’s heart ache.

“Come here.” Carla leaned down and pulled Chris into a quick hug, before her attention turned to Buck. “And you, how’s my other sweetie?”

Buck shook his head, but the affection made him smile, “I’m okay. Hey buddy, Carla’s gonna take you out for a bit today.” He leaned in closer with a smirk and a wink in the caretaker’s direction, “Don’t tell anyone, but I’m pretty sure you can convince her to buy you ice cream if you ask really nicely.”

The thought at least made Christopher smile a little wider, and he nodded his head before wrapping his arms around Buck’s neck. “We can come back later?” He whispered in Buck’s ear.

“Yeah of course buddy, I’ll be here.” Buck promised, squeezing his arms around the small frame. “Say bye to your dad okay?”

“Can I hug him?”

“Course.” Buck stood and helped Christopher maneuver over to the bed.

It was a little clumsy, but Chris was able to put his arms over Eddie’s chest without touching any of the wires, “I love you daddy.” He said, before allowing Buck to set him on his feet.

It took less than three seconds after he was left alone in the room for Buck to break, broken sobs pulled from his lungs as his cheeks streaked with tears. “God, Eddie I don’t know how much longer I can do this.”

Buck sniffed, covering his eyes with his hands and trying to get his emotions under control. He was just glad he was alone in the room. “Shit.” He cursed with an exhausted sigh. He once again looked at Eddie’s slack face, and barely resisted the urge to brush his fingers along the bruised cheek. “I need you to be okay.” He said, because Buck knew one thing for certain; if Eddie wasn’t okay, he didn’t know if he could ever get over it.

The minutes ticked by one at a time the same way they always did, each one feeling longer than the last. Eventually Buck gave into temptation and laid his head against the slightly scratchy bed sheets he’d grown all too accustomed to during his own extended stays in the hospital. His eyes slipped closed and he was asleep not long after.

He awoke an undetermined amount of time later to a foreign yet strangely familiar sound.

Buck sighed tiredly, blinking the sleep from his eyes and sitting up to glance around the room in search of the source of the noise that had awoken him from his impromptu nap. His heart stuttered to a screeching halt, and all thoughts of sleep vanished immediately as he saw Eddie shifting on the bed.

Buck waited with bated breath for any sign that he wasn’t going crazy, and sure enough a couple seconds later Eddie’s face scrunched up and he groaned. Or maybe it was closer to a grunt. Whatever it was, it was new.

“Eddie?” Buck called, his voice fluttering with nervous excitement.

Eddie’s head shifted towards his voice and Buck felt his hands start to shake, he was getting a little lightheaded.

“Eddie, come on buddy, open your eyes for me.” He licked his lips, praying, “Please.”

The seconds once again felt like they were taking hours to slip by, but in actuality it didn’t take all that long for Buck’s pleas to be heard, and subsequently answered as Eddie forced his heavy eyelids open.

Concern seemed to flash briefly through those eyes as they looked at where Buck was standing over him, but any other emotions were quickly clouded by confusion. “Wha-?”

Buck felt himself sag in relief, a breathless laugh that probably bordered on manic escaping past his lips. “Oh, holy shit, Eddie. Oh my god it is good to hear your voice man.” He sighed.

“What’s happening?”

Eddie’s voice made Buck wince in sympathy, certain it hurt worse to talk than it did for him to hear it. “We can talk about it later okay? I’m gonna go get your doctor.”

And with one last glance and barely contained smile Buck turned and left the room, for the first time feeling a slight lift in his step and the budding hope that maybe, just maybe, things were finally going to be able to settle down for a while.

If only he knew how wrong he was.

#911fox #9-1-1 Fox #buddie #evan buckley #Eddie Diaz #buck x eddie #my writing #fanfic

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notesfrome · 6 years ago

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Hange Week, Day 2: Support

one-shot; support pairing: levi ackerman/hange zoë word count: 2046 words note: for Hange Week at @hangelab on tumblr. Prompt for Day 2: Support. I’m crap at writing action-related stuff relating to their gear…but I tried. Minor manga spoilers (equipment related).

Link to fic at AO3: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15852924/chapters/36947985

The forest laid dark and silent, with only the occasional chirp of a bird or the howl of a wolf breaking the eerie tranquility. That, and the incessant grumbling of a certain Survey Corps captain.

“I cannot believe I let you fucking talk me into this,” Levi scowled, securing the belts and straps of his new gear. Despite the intensive amount of training they had on using it, it still felt a bit foreign, to have a gas cylinder secured to his back, and pistols in his hands.

Beside him, Hange laughed, as she performed her own weapon check, counting her bullets. “Come on,” she chirped. “You know you need the extra practice, Captain. You did miss two targets during training today.”

Levi’s eyebrow twitched dangerously as he glared at the laughing scientist. “Shut your mouth, shitty glasses. You missed three.”

“Now, now,” she said teasingly. “Is this the way you talk to your fellow Squad Leader?”

“Tch,” he snorted, carefully strapping his scabbards, with the blades sheathed within, to his thigh. He much preferred the blades; he was always more comfortable with knives and things that were sharp. Guns and pistols seemed so…clumsy, and there was no elegance in using them. But they wouldn’t be using the blades that night. Hange had insisted that they should get some target practice done, using the pistols and the new vertical maneuvering equipment.

Her words from earlier in the evening drummed in his head, when she was trying to persuade him to join her for a practice session. We – all of us – are experts when it comes to the blades, but you know we need more training with the pistols.

Levi didn’t disagree with that – what he didn’t understand was, why it had to be at fucking one o’clock in the morning, and to make it even incomprehensible, she had dragged him outside, beyond Wall Maria, into the forests. He surveyed the hastily assembled training ground before them, numbered targets pinned to trees in a haphazard, uncoordinated pattern that probably only made sense to Hange.

“You do realise that if we meet a bunch of fucking Titans, we’ll be royally fucked and it will be all your fault?” He griped further, crouching low on the branch, pistols in hand. Shooting her a sideways glance, he immediately knew that it was the wrong thing to say.

Hange’s eyes lit up, and he fucking swore that they were sparkling; shit, that look – pure, manic excitement – was written all over her face. “Really???” She squealed. “Do you think we’ll see any Titans? It’s night time – any moving Titan we see may very well be an Abnormal!”

Inwardly, he groaned to himself; great, this was just what he fucking needed, for her to go off searching for some fucking Titan safari. “Wait, four eyes, hold…” The rest of his words were lost as she braced herself on the branch, and with an ear-splitting WOOO HOOOO, she leapt off the branch, hooking onto the next tree as she propelled forwards effortlessly.

“For fuck’s sake, Hange,” he growled, and as his own grappling hook attached itself to a nearby tree, he took off after his batshit insane companion.

BANG! BANG! She took out the first two targets, and then she performed a backflip, firing her hook backwards, where target three was before target two. Her pistol fired again, and unsurprisingly, it was right on target. “Come on, Levi!” she yelled, her voice high and thin, carried by the wind, as she launched herself towards the direction of her next target. “Don’t be such a slowpoke, shorty!”

Scowling and swinging through the empty space and air, he aimed at the first and second target. Firing the pistols on each of his hand, he hit them cleanly, and then he swung flawlessly around and hit the bullseye on the third target. Hange was in front of him, somersaulting as she flew towards the fourth target. There was no way in hell he was losing to her, she’d lord it over his fucking head for the next decade. He eyed the fourth target, he was a distance away, but he was sure he could shoot it from where he was.

BANG! Hange’s head whipped back towards his direction as his bullet found its target, her own aim faltering for a fraction of a second. Smirking, he whizzed past her, as she yelled indignantly. “Oh sure, show off your superior and perfect eyesight!”

As he took out the next two targets, Hange swung and leapt above him, trying to gain an upper hand in speed, which, in itself, was a rather impossible mission. Levi was the fastest in the Survey Corps, this was a known fact. But adrenaline seemed to be giving her an edge, and she was neck to neck with him, as they careened through the forest, taking out all the practice targets.

As the final target loomed, Levi took careful aim, and fired. A split second before he did, he heard her gun sounded, as he watched, her bullet embedded itself in the middle of a target, just a split second before his did.

“YEEEESSSSSSSSS!” She cheered, whooping as she waved her pistols in victory. Scowling, he shot his grappling hook to a nearby tree and swung himself upwards, landing on the broad bough, panting. Laughing victoriously, she somersaulted twice in the air, as he glared at her, arms folded.

“Fine, you won!” He yelled. “Now can we go back? I need some fucking sleep!”

“But, Levi!” She cried. “We haven’t even seen a Titan yet!”

“Does it look like I give a shit about Titans?”

Still laughing, Hange shot her grappling hooks towards the tree he was on. But she was so immersed with smirking victoriously at him that she didn’t notice her hook had tangled itself on a weak branch. As the branch broke, she lost her balance, but before she could regain it, her cable and hook tangled themselves in a mess of branches, pitching her forward. She then slammed face first into the tree, before dropping downwards.

“HANGE!” Levi yelled in horror, and jumped off the tree. He had to get her before she crashed headfirst into the ground. He had to get to her. His grappling hook, secured to a tree bough, gave him a lot more velocity, and he caught her, a metre and a split second before she hit the ground.They landed on the forest floor, her securely in his arms.

“Hange!” he said, scrambling to his feet, looking over her frantically, his heart racing. “Fuck…Hange, are you…” his panic ebbed away a little as he heard her gave a little groan.

He literally thought he was going to collapse in fucking relief, as he grabbed her and hugged her close to him, breathing heavily. After a moment, he pushed her back, looking over her again anxiously. She didn’t look too injured, there were cuts and scrapes on her face, but her arms and legs seemed to be in their rightful positions.

Her eyelids fluttered open. “Did…did a Titan get me?” she murmured, putting a hand to her head.

Staring down at her, Levi felt annoyance gradually replacing his panic, though relief was still washing over him in waves. “No, shithead, a fucking tree got you,” he snapped.

“Oh, did it? Gee, death by a tree would be so embarrassing,” she winced, sitting up. “Imagine that, a Squad Leader of the Survey Corps - the most elite soldiers -, killed by a tree.” She shook her head a little, trying to clear it. “Ow.”

“Does your head hurt?” He asked, looking at her carefully.

“Not really, my face hurts more,” she said, grimacing as she touched her nose gingerly.

Levi snorted in laughter. “Yeah, no shit, you did faceplant onto a fucking tree, after all.” He helped her up to a sitting position, propped against the tree. “Can you try moving your arms and legs?” She nodded, and he watched her as she tested her arms, which seemed to be fine. She then moved her legs, and as she moved her right ankle, a flash of pain crossed her face.

“I think my right ankle is injured,” she said anxiously. “Oh shit, it had better just be a sprain, I can’t have a broken ankle, we have an expedition coming up, and we have spent months planning for it, it couldn’t be delayed while I…”

“Stop blabbering, shitty glasses,” Levi cut her off irritably. “If you had fucking listened to me, you’d be sleeping or performing some shitty experiment right now, and you would have avoided fucking yourself up. Now shut up, and let me look at your ankle.” Carefully, he unlaced her boot, pulling her off and holding her ankle in his hands. He touched it lightly, pressing into it, and Hange bit her lip, wincing a little. He ran his hand over her ankle bone, and then he nodded. “It’s just a sprain. Nothing is broken.”

“Oh great, thank goodness,” she heaved a sigh of relief, as she braced her arms against the tree, trying to stand up. Sighing, he helped her up, slinging her arm around his shoulder, supporting her carefully.

She held onto him, testing her ankle gingerly, before something seemed to occur to her. She turned to him, a huge grin on her face. “Oh hey! I won!”

Levi stared at her incredulously. “Really? Because you really look like a fucking, limping loser right now.”

“Ooooh, grumpy pants is having a bad case of sour grapes,” she taunted, and then her grin faded into a grimace. “Ow, ow, give me a moment.” Sighing, she looked around her. “Boy, it’s going to be a long walk back to camp.”

“Can you still use your gear?” He asked her, his tone abrupt.

She checked her cylinders and gas gauges, nodding. “Well, yeah, they’re still operational.”

“Good,” he said, slipping his arm around her waist, pulling her to his side securely. “I need you to be my left arm. Now, hold on to me.”

“Wait,” she began. “What…?”

“We’re not going to fucking walk back to camp, not with your ankle all fucked up and with fucking Titans possibly lurking around,” he said impatiently. “Let’s just do this the fast way, all right, four eyes?”

“But…”

“If you dare to say you want to catch a fucking Titan, I’ll personally deliver you to one.”

“No, I mean…”

Levi let out a huff of impatience. “Look, all you need to do is to follow my lead. I have enough strength to hold you up, I just need your hook as extra support, because I’ve got one arm around you to make sure you don’t fucking fall off.”

She glanced him skeptically, before seemingly coming to her own conclusion. “Fine, if this was the only way.”

Looking down at her, he felt himself softening as he thought about how close she came to being seriously injured, or, for that matter, how close she came to death. “Don’t worry. I’ll be supporting you all the way. Just hold on to me.”

Trust me, shitty glasses.

She nodded, and gripped his shoulder, as he tightened his hold around her waist. Taking a deep breath, he launched his first hook, and they both shot upwards. Immediately, Hange’s hook sank into another tree, and they moved forward easily. Levi followed up, the grappling hook digging into the bark of the next tree with a satisfying thunk. And on they flew, as it they had been doing it for their entire lives.

“Woooooooo!” Hange whooped in his ear, evidently getting over her apprehension. “This is AWEEEEESOMEEEE!” She yelled happily as her hook caught another tree, and Levi easily swung them forward, whipping through the air.

“Stop shouting in my ear, shitty glasses, or I’ll drop you right now, I fucking swear,” Levi threatened, glaring at her.

She grinned at him, and then tucked her face against the side of his neck, brushing her lips softly against the skin there. “No, you won’t,” she said confidently.

Levi snorted derisively, but all the same, he pressed a quick kiss on her forehead, near her hairline, thanking his lucky stars that he had forced her to wash her hair yesterday.

She was fucking right, of course.

This...kinda got away from me. It was supposed to be short. 300 word short. But I think I am happy with what I end up with, although “support” is really used loosely in this sense, haha.

Feedback appreciated!

edit, 16/09/2018: Made minor edits, because I just realised that Hange wasn't commander when they had the new gear. Oops, my bad. Brain was elsewhere.

#hangeweek #hangelab #support #hange zoë #levihan #levi ackerman #hangeweek2018 #attatckontitan #fic writing

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askmicrowaveayem · 7 years ago

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MAYEM: Fear & Loathing - Pt.7

[Previous]

[Archive] [Cast]

“Good.” Gaster smiled back at him and wished that he could help somehow, Papyrus that is. He just had to tell himself that this was good too, helping with the core and all.

The two Pap’s were so different it was crazy to ever think the little one would, maybe, somehow, grow up to be just like his. How could that even happen? Maybe it wouldn’t. It wasn’t like this Gaster had grown up to be completely like him.

He was way too damn nice.

It was a little funny how much the other Gaster denied his niceness, to the point where he fully ignored it existed at all. Ah well. Self-loathing did funny things to a skeleton.

Gaster nodded. “He’s definitely improving. Hopefully when things calm down, it’ll be even better, but he’s much better than he was. I was worried he was starting to backslide when he stopped talking again, so… your Papyrus showed up right in time.”

“Maybe there’s a reason for everything.” Gaster said as he pulled out his notepad and flipped to the page with his suggestions on it. “But that would mean there’s a thing such as fate, and I don’t believe in that nonsense.”

“Oh, thank fuck,” Gaster said, heaving out a sigh of relief, “I was worried you were about to start talking about destinies and shit.”

“Fuck that shit.” Gaster cursed, frowning but not looking angry at his twin. Perhaps he was recalling something in his past that made him a little bitter about the whole idea.

“You met someone who was really hardcore about that, huh?” he asked, figuring venting might help.

Gaster opened and closed his mouth a few times. He paused and actually looked around for a moment, as though he expected someone to leap out right from time and space to give him a slap.

“Yeah, actually. Their name was Seer. Or that’s what we called them.”

“‘Them’ as in a group, or one extremely annoying individual?” Gaster asked, listening interestedly.

“One extremely annoying individual. I think. Maybe there’s more of them. I don’t know.” Gaster flung his hands up, as if thinking about it was enough to drive him insane. “They worked as our river person after the war but… ugh.” He shoved his notepad back into himself much more forcefully than he intended.

“During the war they worked was, obviously, the seer for the king. They would predict the outcome of battles and all that nonsense but it was always just vague enough that you couldn’t really tell whether or not they were actually seeing the future or fate or whatever the fuck.” He flung his hands up and began to gesture along with his speech.

“Drove me fucking insane. They hung on their every word. I mean, I do owe them a lot, but… fuck.”

Gaster winced a bit, watching the notepad disappear. He decided not to comment on the ‘owing them a lot’ part, since knowing you owed a lot to someone who you didn’t trust or even like was… never the most fun thing to talk about. But still. “Wow. That, um. Yeah, that sounds awful to listen to all the time.”

“I had to travel with them at one point. Longest weeks of my life.” He sighed, recalling the memory. “They’re… a nice monster, but… jeeze. Everything they do goes against what I believe in.”

There was a pause.

“Somehow they keep finding me too, which is strange. It’s gotta be some sort of magic. That’s the only way I can explain it. A magic very specific to that particular monster. Whatever that monster happens to be.”

“You never saw a monster quite like them?” Gaster asked, curious about that remark in particular.

“I… yeah…” Gaster went deep into thought, a finger tapping his chin. “Sort of like an elemental but… I don’t think they were. It was very disorienting to look at. Like their appearance constantly changed every time you looked away.”

“Maybe cloaking magic? But I’ve never heard of that before.”

Gaster blinked at the description. “That’s… odd, definitely. ...are shapeshifters real in your world, I guess?”

“I’ve certainly never heard of them. Are they here?” He asked, looking up at his double.

Gaster shook his head. “They’re children’s stories. Monsters that can change their shape at will, to… basically anything.”

“That would make the most sense, but…” Gaster just shrugged, “I’ve honestly never heard of it and never met a monster with the same ability. Seer was… very strange.”

“... Which says a lot coming from me, I think.” He chuckled.

After a moment, Gaster grinned. “Maybe you had an early dimensional traveler on your hands.”

Gaster’s eye sockets widened, then narrowed. “Oh that bastard. If they were I will be so pissed.”

Gaster laughed. “Maybe you’ll find out on your trip? Maybe you’ll run into a younger version of them or something. Then you can interrogate them by pretending you know their future. It’ll be fun for the whole family. Fake-out the mystic.”

The doctor’s grin widened at the thought, then fell again as he looked to his counterpart. “Do any of your river people say ‘tra-la-la’ before every other sentence?”

Gaster looked blankly at his counterpart. “....do riverpeople talk?”

He stared at his double for a long while before mumbling ‘shit’ under his breath. “There goes that idea I guess. I was hoping they would be here somehow.”

“Sorry,” Gaster said, “have you asked around in other dimensions about the riverpeople?”

“Nah. I didn’t think of it until you said something. I will next time we jump and I find one.” Gaster shrugged, “Knowing Seer they’ll give me some vague hint or say nothing at all.”

--*****

Gaster nodded. “Still, it’s as good a plan as any.”

He sighed and looked at the ceiling, rubbing the back of his neck. “Yeah.”

Gaster looked up at the clock at the wall, checking the time. “...it’s getting towards the end of my shift. Want to cut out early and head back to see the boys?”

“Yeah, might as well. I feel we got a lot done today, despite how much time we spent being idiots.” He grinned at his double. “I’ll let you get a headstart. I don’t wanna walk into the apartment before you get there.”

“You mean we spent time not being idiots?” he asked, grinning back. “All right. I’ll meet you there.”

He took a moment to finish backing up before heading out, making sure his double was out of the line of sight of the door before he went.

He jumped a bit when he opened the door and realized there was another monster standing outside it.

They were a waterfall monster, clearly; a sort of fishman with a forked tongue and bright blue skin.

“Hey there, Wingdingss,” they said. “Who you talkin’ to in there?”

“Myself,” Gaster said, face impassive. He pushed by the fish monster, shouldering his way into the hall and locking the door closed behind himself. “Sorry if I bothered you.”

“Ssssee, I thought that at first, but then I remembered you talk to yoursself with your handss,” the fish monster said, following along behind Gaster as he tried to walk down the hall. “And it actually ssounded like a conversation. Sso…. just out of friendly curiosssity I thought I’d ask.”

“I think you’ve imagined things.”

He watched his double stop at the door and instantly tense up, or tensed as much as goo could. His flesh rippled and he bit back the itch of magic at his fingertips, recalling what his twin had said about there being… disagreements in the lab.

Gaster didn’t move until the door was fully closed, quickly forming a pointed bone in his hand and silently walking to stand behind the door as he listened in on the conversation. He moved along the side of the room as the conversation moved, his other hand waving to open up a prompt and keep as much of an eye on what was happening as he could through the wall.

“Sso rude,” the fish monster said, laughing a bit. They seemed fairly carefree as they spoke, but Gaster still didn’t let his guard down, doing his best to appear calm as the other walked behind him. He fought the overwhelming urge to protect his back. “Are you ssure you’re not hiding a third exxperiment in there? Needed one more sspecimen to add to your collection?”

It took all he had to not summon a bone and skewer the fish right there in the hallway.

But he couldn’t. He couldn’t. He couldn’t afford to be the bad guy here.

Sans and Papyrus couldn’t afford for him to be the bad guy.

So he laughed instead. A dead sort of chuckle compared to his real one, but convincing enough. “That’s a nice thought. But no. I think I have enough. Thank you. I should be leaving, now, my shift’s ended. You know how upset they get when we don’t go sleep when we’re supposed to.”

The fish made a face, and Gaster kept walking, trying to outpace them.

Hohohohohoooo boy. Gaster felt his arm shake, the grip on his weapon tightening. This bastard. This bastard.

His eyes went blank as they walked further than the room went and he stopped, standing in the corner and letting his eyes watch his window. He could see the distance each of them was, which hopefully was enough.

Hopefully the fish would have enough sense to let him be.

The fish apparently didn’t like being deflected like that. He stopped following Gaster as closely, but still called out after him, “Whatever you’re doing with thossse weaponsss, you may’ve fooled Asssgore, but we won’t let you get away witth it!”

Gaster waved behind himself, calling, “Yeah, have a good day!” before rounding the corner and breaking into a much quicker walk, reaching the elevator and getting up to the top level and outside the lab as quickly as he could.

Gaster could feel his body start to boil with rage. Figuratively at least.

The window vanished with a wave of his hand and he just… stood there. A part of him, a very large part of him wanted that fish to come back and try to unlock the door.

Come on in.

See what’s inside.

You know you want to.

You know you want this fucking B O͞ ͘N̷ E͢ ͘ ̨S͢ H O V̵ ̸E D ͏ ̡T ̕H R̀ ́O ̡U G H ̡Y͜ ̀O ҉U͏ R̢ ̕Ȩ Y̧ E̢ ̸B A̴ L͟ ̨L.͜

He would probably be even later than he intended getting back to the apartment and he would probably wait an unreasonably long time inside the room, hoping one of those pieces of shit that called themselves a monster would try to come inside and see what exactly his double had been talking to.

The doorknob rattled.

The fish monster had come back.

He muttered under his breath, ‘fucking ssskeleton and hiss lockss,’ twisting the knob one more time.

Gaster stood on the opposite side of the door, behind where it would swing open. He held breath he no longer needed and quickly diffused his magic and forced himself to let go of his form as much as he could.

He didn’t want to look like his double. He didn’t want to get him into more trouble than he probably already would.

But he was going to scare this little asshole straight if he could.

After a third rattle, the door lock still held, and the fish monster sighed loudly on the other side.

They punched the door--or, it sounded like they did. But the door didn’t budge, and not enough force had been applied for it to. With all the scrutiny going through the lab at the moment, it’d take an idiot to break down the most high profile scientist’s door, much less mess with whatever it was he was experimenting on.

Maybe they’d find an idiot willing to take the fall?

Not in the lab, though.

Unfortunately.

Making another disgusted sound, the fish monster turned and headed towards the break room, burbling angrily.

That skeleton stole his chance to see the stars. To know the ocean.

Fuck it. It wasn’t like whoever was locked in that room was going anywhere anytime soon.

Gaster waited. He waited even after the monster had gone. He waited, holding himself perfectly still, than any sane person would.

Then, suddenly, he relaxed a little. The anger started to die down. He looked down at himself.

… He really was a freak, wasn’t he?

A horrible, murderous freak.

The doctor sighed and pulled himself together again, this time easier than all the previous times now that he wasn’t drained of energy. He slumped against the wall and sat down.

That had been stupid. He was so stupid.

Gaster pressed the palms of his hands to his skull right above his eyes. If he had gone through with that his doppelganger would have had to deal with so much more shit and it would have all been his fault. He was no good at this. He didn’t know delegation or how to delicately tiptoe around something so sensitive a subject as this.

But his double did. He was doing exactly what he needed to do.

Gaster groaned at himself and pulled his legs to his chest, hugging them.

He needed to calm down before teleporting back home.

It was a while later that a voice buzzed through the room.

Coming from one of those communication devices he’d handed out was the other Gaster’s voice.

“....hey. Are you coming back?”

His double sounded tired, concerned, but otherwise fine.

Gaster flinched at the sudden voice and reached up to press the button through his head.

“Yeah.”

There was an awkward pause before he repeated himself. “Yeah. Just… wanted to calm down a little beforehand. I’m coming.”

He inhaled sharply and stood up.

“Are things okay?” his double didn’t sound soothed at the promise at all. “The others can’t hear right now. I’m in the hallway.”

Gaster glanced at the door he stood beside before walking away from it and speaking quieter. “That monster came back to the door and tried to open it. I was just… being dumb.”

He hoped that was enough for his double to infer that he wanted to kill the guy, or at least scare the shit ouf of him.

There was a sharp intake of breath over the receiver. His double also spoke more quietly. “...Gaster… what did you do?”

He’d definitely inferred it well enough.

He just needed to know if his double had actually gone through with it.

“... Nothing. I didn’t do anything.” He said, his voice sounding ashamed of himself.

“I’m sorry.”

Even though he hadn’t actually done anything he still felt compelled to apologise for nearly doing something really idiotic.

Gaster let out a breath of relief. “It’s fine. You didn’t do it, so things are fine. And we--we would’ve figured something out if you had.”

Living with Papyrus had greatly increased his capacity to talk about violence and death without sounding condescending rather than comforting.

“But since it didn’t happen, it’s not anything we need to worry about. You’re all right, though? Feeling okay?”

Gaster closed his eyes and pressed a knuckle against his forehead, tapping it there a few times as he listened to his double.

At his question he let out a tiny, bitter laugh. “Okay enough. I’m the opposite of how I felt initially meeting Papyrus, so… things should be alright.”

He made no comment about it being alright for him, but he didn’t find that very important. The kids came first.

“But how are you?” Gaster asked, taking the hint and violently ignoring it. “You sound like shit.”

Gaster’s arm dropped from his head to hang by his side. You could hear the annoyance that was across his face through the receiver. “Thanks.”

He tried to laugh it off, a sort of dry chuckle not unlike the one his double had used out in the hallway. “I feel like a piece of shit.”

He wanted to laugh again and to say that he was a horrible person, but stopped himself.

“Because you wanted to kill them?”

There was a long pause before a very tired, very drained, almost completely different sounding voice came from the other end.

“... Yeah.”

“And did you kill them?”

It was the tone of voice of someone who knew the answer, but was going to make you answer anyway.

There was another pause before a completely different tone came through. “No mom, jeeze!”

Things were getting too tense. Too whiney. Too emotional. He switched to humor just like he always did to try and cloak it all.

“Then good fucking job, Junior!” Gaster said, following along with the humor without ever losing the intensity of his voice. “You’ve been conditioned to kill shit! You fought that conditioning and didn’t kill shit when you had the chance! That’s not something to be upset about, that means you did a good. Excellent job. Now get your goopy ass over here and get a hug from your sons. Because you did something. Remember that talk we had about assholes who believe in fate? Well, you made a conscious decision to say ‘fuck that’ and you did a thing, and that thing was not doing shit. Except making me talk for way too fucking long, my throat is on fire, holy fuck. Has my point gotten across, yet, or do I have to tell you I was tempted to kill the fucker too, but I didn’t, because I’ve conditioned myself my whole life to deal with things like that?”

Through his double’s entire monologue Gaster didn’t say a thing. He waited until he was finished before teleporting right in front of him, hand dropping from the side of his head with a dopey, toothless grin on his face.

“Does this mean we can get nice cream for being good?”

Gaster punched him in his goop shoulder. “Only if you bring enough to share.”

The doctor mouthed a ‘yes’ and did a little fistpump in the air.

Gaster shook his head. “You well enough to go inside?”

“Yeah I’m good.” He smiled, genuinely this time.

Gaster nodded, “Good.”

He opened the door and stepped inside, calling, “Hey, Papyrus! Come give your dad a hug! He’s been dumb about his feelings again.”

Then he stepped inside and started planning out the logistics of buying and transporting enough nice cream for this hell family.

Papyrus looked up from his seat on the couch. “AGAIN!? WHAT NOW?” He set down the tablet he had been messing with.

“Oh god.” Gaster palmed his face as he closed the door behind him.

“Upset about dumb thoughts when he didn’t actually do anything dumb,” Gaster said. “He’s just upset he had them at all. Don’t nag him too much. Also, we’re apparently getting nice cream.”

Papyrus scoffed and stood up, his brother’s head flopping back into the couch. “yay nice cream.” He mumbled, giving a thumbs up from his position still sprawled over it.

“Papy please have mercy.” Gaster mumbled, looking incredibly embarrassed despite being unable to blush. His son had none of it, wrapping his big arms around his father and squeezing him tight.

“YOU’RE A VERY SILLY MAN SOMETIMES.” He said, patting his father on the head as he hugged him.

“I know.”

“YOU’RE NOT A BAD MAN.”

Gaster didn’t reply, which only made Papyrus hug him tighter. “SAY IT WITH ME.”

The doctor mumbled out something under his breath and his son glared. “THAT WAS TERRIBLE.”

This looked like it had happened a couple of times before at least. Perhaps this was why he had been so good at convincing his smaller self that he wasn’t a bad person; he had to do it with his father occasionally as well.

Gaster had to look away and cover his mouth to hide his grin as he watched Papyrus and Gaster.

That Papyrus was really something.

...and so was the other Gaster’s self-loathing.

Gaster’s own Papyrus had been stewing in nerves and sadness ever since they’d met, but a night with Papyrus as physical evidence and a long conversation had given him enough hope to really try for a better, kinder future. The face that this older Papyrus seemed to give the same sort of treatment to his father without the same sort of effect… said a lot.

Or maybe it meant the other Gaster wasn’t as open about his issues as the younger Papyrus was.

Or maybe seeing his supposedly ‘better’ twin didn’t give him the same hope as the Papyru had. Maybe it was an age thing; he felt he could never go back.

Whatever it was, it wasn’t anything a few gallons of Nice Cream couldn’t help soothe.

He hoped that bunny was going to be okay once Gaster placed the order.

Gaster continued to groan and mumble, Papyrus even going so far as to give him a shake in his arms. “COME ON NOW.”

“holy cow dad just say it.” Sans said, laughing as he watched from the couch.

“FfffI’m not bad! Jesus let me go.” Gaster finally said, his son obliging.

“NICE JOB.” Papyrus pat his father on the head as though he were a child. Maybe he was. An overgrown child thousands of years old who threw temper tantrums.

Gaster was unsure how to look, bridging somewhere between wanting to melt away into the floorboards and screaming.

Gaster snorted, trying hard not to laugh. “All right. Okay. I’m going to get the nice cream. All of you have to behave and not wreck my apartment until I get back. Papyrus is in charge.”

He headed over to the couch and pulled a wadded envelope out from between the cushions before pulling on the only coat he had which wasn’t a labcoat and aiming for the door again.

His double opened his mouth in shock. His SON was in charge over him? The NERVE.

Papyrus started to flex his nonexistent muscles.

Gaster glared at him.

Sans just laughed.

Gaster laughed at the expression on his twin’s face.

He left quickly, hoping to avoid whatever rath might’ve been triggered by that stunt.

Even if Papyrus was definitely the best of any of them to leave in charge of the house.

Things were going to be okay.

While his double was gone, Gaster groaned and moved to flop down onto the couch with Sans. “I can’t believe this. My own son outranks me.”

“IT’S BECAUSE I’M SO GREAT!” Papyrus grinned and then moved to the door to the bedroom he knew the two boys to be resting inside. He gently knocked on the door.

“heya,” Sans’s voice came from inside at the knock, indicating they were both awake and it was probably okay to open the door.

Papyrus opened it slowly and peeked inside, smiling. “YOUR DAD HAS GONE TO GET US NICE CREAM! DO YOU WANT TO COME OUT OR WAIT UNTIL HE’S BACK?”

Gaster winced and made grabbing gestures at Papyrus before signing ‘Not dad! Not dad!’

Oh well.

Sans and Papyrus glanced at each other from where they were tangled on the bed, before Sans glanced back at their elder and said, “...you mean your dad?”

Papyrus probably just misspoke.

Papyrus suddenly looked nervous, eye sockets bouncing between the door and what he could make out his father singing from the corner of his eyes. “ER, NO, I MEANT YOUR… GASTER. IT’S HARD TO KEEP TRACK OF WHO’S WHO! NYEH-HEH-HEH!”

He hated lying so much.

Sans… wasn’t really sure why he felt like Papyrus was lying, even when what he was saying was definitely probably right? Whatever. He let it go. Maybe Papyrus was just awkward sometimes. “okay, cool. let us know when he gets here? i dunno if paps has ever had nice cream before….?”

He glanced over at his brother, who shrugged.

“oh well. still needs more nice cream, either way.”

Papyrus nodded and slowly backed out the door, closing it gently behind him. He then spun around and stared at his father, sweating.

Gaster sighed and shrugged.

Sans and Papyrus remained in their bredroom.

“well that was weird,” Sans said. Papyrus nodded.

About half an hour later, the doorknob glowed indigo and the door swung open.

“All right, now we’re going to test how much nicecream a skeleton can ingest, I guess,” Gaster said, levitating several buckets of nicecream onto the table.

“Holy crap.” Gaster said, watching as the buckets of nice cream were set on the table. “I’m surprised you actually took that joke to heart.” He laughed.

Papyrus stood and walked to the bedroom door again, knocking before peeking inside. “YOUR GASTER IS BACK WITH THE NICE CREAM.”

“Fuck you, jokes are serious business,” Gaster said with an extremely straight face. “And as it is, I’m also going to use the goodwill generated from this to get you all to let me pass out for a while, because I need to go hide my head for a while after these last few days.”

A few minutes later, Sans and Papyrus emerged from their room, ready for a massive amount of sugar.

“Giving kids nice cream and then expecting them to be quiet enough for you to sleep? You’re nuts.” Gaster said, then laughed. “But sure. Go pass out. We can watch the kiddos.”

“That’s what I was banking on,” Gaster said, grinning back. As opposite as they were, the moments when he and his twin really got each other were exceptionally worth it. He got some bowls and plates--the few he had--and began scooping them out.

Honestly, he hadn’t funny believed the joke or taken it seriously at all, until the other Gaster had done a fist pump and for a moment looked genuinely like he’d have liked nice cream.

And, well. Maybe everyone needed a pick-me-up every now and then.

He served a handful of bowls of nice cream and then delegated the elder Papyrus to be in charge of refills.

Papyrus gave a salute and handed a bowl to his brother, then offered one to his father, who looked at it oddly.

“Pap I don’t need to eat.”

“YOU DON’T NEED TO. BUT YOU SHOULD.” He thrust the bowl at his father until he took it. “SANS TOLD ME WE USE TO EAT THIS TOGETHER, RIGHT?”

Gaster smiled a little, “Yeah we did. Thanks Pap.”

While they served icecream, Gaster went to find his own corner to curl up in and relax on. It’d been a long two days.

Meanwhile, mid bite of icecream, the younger Papyrus leaned over and attempted to whisper “DO YOU THINK HE HAS A TV IN HIS GOOP?” to his Sans.

He succeeded more than his elder version would have. Sans just snorted and turned to their caretaker’s twin. “goopster, paps has a question for ya.”

Papyrus made a startled noise and tried to wave his brother off.

“Myeah?” Gaster said as he spooned nice cream into his mouth.

He seemed to be warming up to the name ‘goopster’.

“paps wants to know if you’ve got anything we can watch a movie on,” Sans said, grinning up at his… uncle goopster, he decided. Uncle Goopster.

“Sure.” Gaster said, pulling the tablet out of his chest before getting up and walking over to the table where everyone was sitting. He had been keeping his distance for the little Papyrus’ sake until now.

“I really only have home movies on this thing though. I don’t think you guys have invented the Undernet yet, have you?”

Sans shook his head, eating more icecream. “so we can’t get otehr stuff on it?”

Papyrus didn’t seem nearly as upset this time as the other Gaster approached. He seemed to be getting a bit more used to his presence. Still, showing the home movies to him was probably not the best idea, since they’d either involve the lab or a young Papyrus being happy, and.. even if he didn’t get jealous, it might upset him.

“Not without being connected to the net I’m afraid. I don’t have anything like that on mine. Not a big movie fan. What about you two? You have your phones and stuff on you, right?” Gaster looked to his two boys.

Sans pulled out a cellphone from his pocket and Papyrus stood to go fetch the other tablet they brought with them.

“i’ve got some dumb videos saved.”

“I HAVE A FEW MOVIES I THINK.” Papyrus sat back down and began to tap at the screen. “WHAT KIND OF MOVIES DO YOU LIKE?”

Even if they did end up watching home movies, neither of them would have to worry about having to watch their alternate selves being happy at the same age. Those videos had long since been lost in the other timeline. Perhaps that was why he took so many these days, he didn’t have the old ones to look back to.

“all of them,” Sans said, very seriously. Then, a moment later, he amended, “what sort do you have?”

Papyrus also leaned in, interested and wanting to see a bit more.

Their Gaster was more of a photography person.

“LET’S SEE…” Papyrus said, leaning a bit and angling the screen so the two could better see the movies he had to choose from. Most of them were rather light-hearted children’s movies or action. There were a few comedies and even a horror flick or two on it as well, to which the skeleton frowned and looked over at Gaster. “YOU PUT YOUR SCARY MOVIES ON HERE.”

The doctor just shrugged, “I watch ‘em when you two are asleep and I don’t feel like working.”

“scary movies?” Sans asked, leaning forward and poking at one of the images on the screen.

The cover of ‘Alien’ popped up, which Papyrus quickly swiped away. “OH NO, NO SCARY MOVIES.”

“Yeah I’m not gonna be responsible for giving you two nightmares.” Gaster said as he spooned more nice cream into his mouth.

“we won’t get nightmares,” Sans said, “probably,” eating another scoop of icecream.

Papyrus, on the other hand, was looking pretty interestedly at one of the children’s movies that had appeared on the screen briefly.

Papyrus gave his little older brother a stare that screamed ‘yeah sure’, but he did manage to catch the glimpse of his twin’s and swiped back a few. “DID YOU SEE ONE YOU LIKED?”

Sans was unintimidated by the stare.

He could definitely handle anything the movies threw at him.

Papyrus nodded, ducking his head a bit and pointing at one of the ones as Papyrus swiped past them. It was brightly colored and appeared to focus on a bushy-tailed animated squirrel.

It looked pretty cute.

“OH, GOOD CHOICE!” Papyrus smiled and tapped a few buttons before the movie began to play. He pushed it around so the two could watch it. They couldn’t see the screen from that angle, but that was alright. All of them knew what was happening by the sounds emitted from it.

Papyrus was enthralled.

The bright colors, cheerful sounds, and easy conversation of the movie were so different from what he was used to, hidden away in the depths of the capital with his two family members, who meant well, but didn’t exactly break into choreographed song-and-dance to talk about their feelings.

He kind of thought the world would be a better place if that happened more often. People singing about their feelings. And also dancing. It would be really cool if everyone danced??

And the sounds were all mixed together well so that he never got overwhelmed with them???

Movies were excellent he decided.

Then they came to the part with the owl.

And Sans shrieked and hid behind him.

Papyrus didn’t think it was all that scary, but…. he patted Sans’ skull anyway.

So much for not getting nightmares.

“ride it out, tough guy.” Sans commented with a grin, having already started to help himself to a second serving of nice cream. Papyrus and Gaster had decided one bowl was enough for them.

‘Goopster’ wasn’t looking at them, his head leaned onto his palm as he just listened to the movie.

But he was smiling.

Sans did survive watching the ‘scary’ part of the movie, and was growing very tired by the end. Papyrus had gotten a chance to rest during the day, but Sans had been up for most of it. He was yawning by the end, despite having consumed two bowls of icecream, like his elder.

Papyrus, still taking the role of ‘in-charge’ very seriously, posed the two youngsters a question once the credits began to roll. “I THINK IT’S PROBABLY GETTING LATE. DO YOU WANT TO GO TO BED?”

Sans nodded, yawning, and his Papyrus nodded along as well, ready to take vigil over his older brother until he could also fall asleep.

Papyrus nodded and took the tablet away before standing up and beginning to clean everything. He could use a little nap himself and Sans was always ready to sleep, but their father would probably take a walk around the ruins and mess around with his machine a little during the night rather than do any actual sleeping.

While the elder Papyrus cleaned, Sans slipped back onto his crutches and made his way to the room. He paused halfway there, glancing back over his shoulder?

“papyrus? you coming?”

Papyrus held up a finger that meant ‘one moment,’ and turned back to watching his double. A moment later, he got up and began helping clean up.

The taller skeleton flashed his double a smile, eager to let him help clean up and giving him small, easy tasks as he went about putting everything in the sink and washing it up, then handing it to be dried over to his small double.

It wouldn’t take long to tidy things at all.

Papyrus began to smile a bit as his elder gave him tasks to complete.

He. He was being useful and doing a good thing without anything bad happening to anyone else.

He could get used to cleaning.

Between the two of them, the kitchen was soon back to its usual state of relative cleanliness, and he felt a bit proud of his hand in it.

He gave his elder a smile before running back to his brother and heading in to bed.

Papyrus watched his smaller self go before settling down on the air mattress beside his brother, taking his tablet and poking away at it to try and get himself in the mindset to take a nap. Despite using magic today it didn’t seem to affect him at all.

Gaster lingered for a bit before signing ‘going for a walk’ to his sons and teleporting out to do just that.

Gaster had long passed out in his corner, fairly content and certain that the kids were safe with their doubles; it gave him some much needed time for relaxation that he hadn’t had for a long time.

Sans and Papyrus climbed into bed together, snuggling up and relaxing; they both fell asleep much more quickly than expected.

All things considered, it had been a good two days.

#mayem #fear and loathing #undertale #RP log #kid #goop #sans #papyrus

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en64 · 7 years ago

Text

Cat and Mouse | Lucio x Original female character | 18+ Chapter 6

((Hoooo boy))

Pashmina's head was pounding. When she opened her eyes she found it was still dark, thinking that she slept through the entire day and it was night again she sat up immediately. The quick motion made her headache worse and she groaned and laid back down. She was laying on what felt like a cloud, the softest mattress she had ever felt. Silk sheets, fluffy pillows, a warm blanket. She was dressed in a long cotton nightgown. The delicate ribbons along the sleeves and embroidery on the high collar made her wonder why someone would need to wear something so fancy to bed. Her hair was in a braid over her shoulder, so she was grateful that at least she wouldn’t have to go through the dreadful routine of trying to untangle it. As she became more aware of her surroundings she realized it was not nighttime, just that the dark red curtains around the bed were drawn.She peered out of them to see Lucio sitting by the fireplace. His shirt was open, exposing his chest, hair a bit tossled and he seemed to be thinking deeply about something. Pashmina slowly stepped off of the bed and he looked over at her. "Ah, you're awake. Not too hungover I hope." He smiled gently and gestured to the side table where a silver tray containing a steaming mug of coffee and a glass of water were placed. The scent of the coffee was intoxicating and she grabbed the mug, sipping eagerly. "Thank you.." She said. After a long pause she cleared her throat. "Did you undress me?" Lucio shook his head. "Before Nadia collected her ladies last night they undressed you and gave you a nightgown to wear. " "Nadia? Those were the Countess's ladies?" Pashmina asked in surprise. "I had asked Nadia.. About how to woo a lady and she said that most women enjoy things like pleasant baths and fine clothes.. She lent me her ladies to please you yesterday." Pashmina blushed. She would have to thank Nadia the next time she saw her. "Oh gosh. . what time is it? I'm going to be late for work" Pashmina said, setting the mug down and looking around for her old clothes. "I've relieved you for the day." Lucio said "I'm sorry if its selfish of me, but I wanted to spend the day with you. I wasn't ready for yesterday to end." Pashmina smiled and came to sit beside him. She noticed a rumpled blanket tossed over the back of the sofa. "Did you sleep here last night?" Lucio nodded "I thought it would be improper to sleep in the bed with you without your consent.. You were thoroughly drunk last night." He said with a smirk. Pashmina blushed "I hope I didn't embarrass myself too much.." Lucio laughed "You were quite entertaining." Pashmina couldn't help but giggle softly. It felt good to be able to be herself around Lucio, to let go of formalities and just have fun. "I must say Mina, I've been thinking about yesterday all morning. Truly you have taught me to be selfless.. But, I would like to teach you to be selfish. Surely you have dreams for the future that don't involve washing clothes. " Pashmina had never really considered being selfish, or what she would ask for if she, like Lucio, could ask for anything. "I.. Always wished I was more educated, more worldly.. I want to read long books and learn to play instruments, maybe I could learn new languages or learn to paint.." Pashmina said dreamily. Lucio grinned "I want to relieve you of your servant duties. I want you to move into one of the apartments close to my chambers and I want to help you achieve your ambitions. I want you to be my Mistress, my only Mistress." His tone was confident and he looked very sure of himself. Pashmina was silent for a while, collecting her thoughts. "I.. Have a task for you. A challenge." She said. Lucio leaned towards her eagerly "I love a good challenge." He said with a smirk. "I spent yesterday with you, in your world.. So today, it is only fair if you spend the day with me in mine." Lucio considered what this meant for a moment, before he sighed dramatically and held his head in his hands. "You want.. Me.. To do.. Chores?" He said with such horror that Pashmina couldn't help but laugh. "Yes. If you can survive in the servants quarters with me for a day, I will agree to be your Mistress." Lucio groaned and slowly stood "Fine, fine.. Ugh! The things I do for love.." He continued grumbling as he walked to his chest of drawers. "What do I even wear? Surely everything I own is too fine for such.. Activities.." He began rummaging through his things and Pashmina came to stand beside him. "Wear something you don't mind ruining." She said "But Mina! I don't want to ruin any of my clothes!" He whined. Pashmina patted him on the back before walking to where her servant clothes were folded neatly. "Perhaps, if you do well, I'll give you a surprise at the end of the day."

~~~

With the thought of what Pashmina's surprise could be teasing his mind, Lucio begrudgingly made his way to the laundry room. He wore his riding trousers and a plain blouse, he had tied a handkerchief over his hair and another to cover his face just so that no one would recognize him on his journey to the basements. When he arrived he saw Pashmina looking more like she did when they first met. Hair haphazardly tossed back in a bun, dress full of little patches and apron covered in stains that wouldn't come out. Lucio smiled at the sight of her and she raised an eyebrow. "Why is your face covered?" She asked "I can't let anyone see me like this!" He whined and she sighed. "I had to wear a corset and petticoat for you, I think you will survive being seen in the lowly servants quarters with me." Lucio hesitated for a long moment before sighing dramatically and removing the handkerchief. Upon realizing who it was, the other laundry maids gasped but Pashmina quickly silenced them with a clap of her hands. "Today our beloved Count will be working down here with us, do not treat him differently than any other servant." Pashmina led Lucio towards a large basin of sweet smelling water where several other maids were scrubbing clothes against washboards. She picked up a board for herself and handed one to Lucio. "Scrub until its completely clean!" She said, getting to work scrubbing a deep red stain out of a white dress. Lucio tried to copy her movements but suddenly he yelped, dropping his washboard and staring at his hand as if he had just lost a finger. "What happened!" Pashmina said, worried that he had hurt himself somehow. "I.. Broke.. A.. Nail!" He hissed through gritted teeth and Pashmina saw that one of his perfectly manicured nails was now chipped. "Oh.. Um.." Pashmina looked down at her own broken and uneven nails. "I'm.. Sorry?" she said sheepishly. Lucio groaned "I don't think I can do this Pashmina. I've never worked like this before and I'm not.. Bred for it." Pashmina frowned. "I wanted to know that you could still care for me, seeing me in my.. Natural habitat so to speak. Instead of above ground where I'm just a doll for you to dress up as you wish. I wanted to make sure you cared for me as a person and not.. Just because you had fun chasing someone you couldn't have." She looked down at her feet. So this is it, she thought. They came from two very different worlds, too different for them to ever be together. The sudden splash of the washboard reentering the basin made her jump. She looked up to see Lucio scrubbing furiously at his garment, a determined look in his eyes. “If this is what it takes to prove that I care about you, no matter what background you come from, then I shall! I would wash every garment in Vesuvia for you my sweet!” He cried with his usual dramatic flare.

Lucio helped Pashmina wash clothes without complaint after that, at lunch he ate alongside her and the other servants and though his soft hands were not at all meant for labor, he did very well. "Lucio, why don't we call it a day." She said after a few hours. Lucio nodded, wiping the sweat from his brow. Pashmina noticed the blisters forming on his hands, she took them in her own and kissed them. Lucio smirked "Do I get my surprise now?" He asked and Pashmina gulped nervously. She took a moment to summon her courage before standing on her tiptoes, grabbing Lucio by his collar and kissing him passionately. He was surprised at first, but after only a moment he cupped her face in his hands and kissed her back. Lucio tried to deepen the kiss but Pashmina pulled away, her cheeks were rose red. "That took.. A lot of courage." She said, trembling a bit. "But.. Ahem! Yes. I will.. Be your.. Mistress." She squeaked as Lucio picked her up off the ground, holding her tightly and spinning around. Pashmina couldn't help but laugh. She didnt care about the other servants staring, or the gossip that would surely reach the entire rest of the palace in a matter of moments. She had never felt happier than she did in Lucio's arms.

((Hi this took me 400 years because that mental illness(tm) hit lmao but uh I hope u enjoyed pretty boy Lucio doing manual labor. Feedback plz friends!! ))

#the arcana #the arcana game #the arcana writing #the arcana fanfiction #count lucio #countess Nadia #camf

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uniformbravo · 7 years ago

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uhh first day of school post

it was fucken hot

seriously why did it have to be 110 degrees right on the week when i start having to go outside again bye

every semester the first thing i say is “i’m never taking an 8 am class ever again”

the second thing i say is “i’m never taking a class on the third floor ever again”

this semester, somehow, through a cruel twist of fate, i have ended up failing both resolutions with two classes each (two classes are at 8 am; two classes are on the third floor; one of them is at 8 am on the third floor)

((i only have 3 classes, there is overlap in the above description))

painting class was cool the teacher was cool i have to pick between oils & acrylics by next tuesday & i have no idea what i want to do

it was super awkward the whole time bc i sat next to this girl & then a couple other girls came in and sat on the other side of me and it was very clear they all knew each other and i could tell the first girl wished she was sitting w/ them but i was too nervous to offer to switch bc there was never a time that felt right so i just spent the whole class feeling like i was in the way so that wasn’t very.... fun

second class was intermediate drawing & ok

this guy is fairly new to teaching, says he graduated calarts a few years ago, and he seems nice & everything but i got the distinct impression that he doesn’t really know how to run a class

which is totally fair since he’s so new to it

but our first assignment is to “revisit” the final from the last art class we took & basically do it again???

not like a literal recreation of exactly what we did last time, he said he wanted us to like do it differently? have more fun with it?? add our own interests into it??? make it represent ourselves????

the more i think about this the more questions marks happen

he did not explain it well

he said he wants to use this to kind of gauge where everyone is at in terms of skill level, but couldn’t he just have done that by having us....... actually...... you know......... bring in our finals from the previous classes........................ instead of having us redo it....................................

this is literally the final project we’re talking about, the big thing that’s due at the end of the semester, the thing we were each given weeks to work on, and when does he want this in by?

wednesday

as in 2 days from now

wednesday

and we were all like “uhhhh can we have some time to work on it in class��

and the thing is, he didn’t even have a set due date, he’s treating this class like a democracy so whenever we were like “so wait when do you want this by” he’d be like “idk what do you guys think?” like i dont know dude!!! you’re supposed to have this shit figured out, we don’t know the scope of the assignment we don’t know the amount of work that should go into it, we don’t know how long it’s going to take, that’s supposed to be on you!! what the hell,

the whole thing was very

unclear

we were all trying to figure out what the fuck he wanted from us and as soon as it started turning into “yeah just bring it in by wednesday” we were all like panicking like “you want a finished recreation of our last class’ final project in two days” so we managed to amend it so we’d have the first half of wednesday’s class to work on it but still jesus??? the whole thing ended with him saying “just bring in a drawing on wednesday, does that sound good?” uh no not really

u want to gauge our skill level but ur only giving us 2 days to show it

buddy ur getting a pencil sketch of an idea that could be cool if i had more time to like refine it n shit

also just because i want to reiterate: if u wanted to see our current skill level why didnt u just have us bring in some of our previous works

like what the fuck

what

aaanyway despite all my complaining i think this could be an.... interesting class??? this is for intermediate drawing by the way, which is the class that i was like “boy i hope this is more interesting than beginning drawing” and hoooo

he said he wants to focus heavily on “conceptual art”, u know, art that has meaning n shit, he explained it as having something to say about the world or something like that, which is. cool i guess. the main thing i kinda latched onto was when he said he wanted to make the class enjoyable for everyone and have us doing drawings we’re interested in, so if the class can follow through on that promise then i’ll be good to go but if he pulls a “every drawing has to have some deep meaning and commentary on the world around us” then i will be. unhappy

i dont even know if he actually does drawings?? i mean he’s from calarts so obviously he has to have done art for that but like when someone asked if he’s gonna show us some of his work he was basically like “um yeah, but i don’t really have a lot, im more into exploring ideas for art than actually making it” and he said he’s into performance art so it’s like. that’s really cool & im happy for you but just curious why are you teaching a drawing class then. like a legitimate actual question tho, how does this class relate to what you do and how u gonna teach us if ur not putting these things into practice yourself

i realize im being kinda harsh because i only spent maybe a little over an hour in this class today so this is really just first impressions talk, like. i could be hugely underestimating him, maybe he is a fantastic teacher and i’ll have a lot of fun with this class??

but even as i type that im remembering other things he said, like how the assignments aren’t gonna be like in other classes where you’re told specifically what to draw or like how the lecture portions are gonna be like a seminar where we discuss art-related topics

it’s just super unconventional and it seems really experimental on his part like he really doesn’t know what he’s doing (which, again, understandable since he’s new and all) so it’ll probably just end up being the weirdest art class i’ve ever taken

and a couple years ago i’d probably have really really hated it just based on the lack of guidance alone, i could see a genuine complaint of this class being “it doesn’t feel like the next step after all the technical work and learning we did in beginning drawing”

but at this point im really intrigued and willing to give it the benefit of the doubt, and i’d rather treat it like an experience than a poorly structured class

and maybe that’s easier for someone in my situation to do since i didn’t really care all that much about this class in the first place so i didn’t have any expectations for it to meet anyway

im literally just taking it to fill my requirements so if it turns out to be an interesting experience then all the better, as long as i can pass

Side Note About The Grading, By The Way

the syllabus has a grading system listed

an A is described as “outstanding work, which exceeds guidelines of assignments, shows technical prowess, creativity, expression, intelligence and personal growth”

a B is “high quality work which meets the guidelines of the assignment”

like is it just me or shouldn’t the latter description be just fine to receive an A??? u did what u were supposed to and it was “high quality” like that is. the definition of an A assignment, the first description should be for an A+ like legitimately is this just me or

and then for a D it’s like “poor quality, little effort or understanding of the assignment” the “understanding” part is throwin me off like if the student didn’t understand the assignment then maybe u should explain it better for them?? i can see poor quality and low effort being good reasons for a low grade but not understanding seems a little unfair

im just getting into specifics now tho

i think im done talking abt this class now

hoo boy

an interesting first day to say the least

#''first day of school post'' or as i like to call it ''immediately complaining about my classes after just one (1) day''#retag later #today posts #school /#sorry i've been making so many school posts i just #need to let it out somewhere #also i love talking abt myself & my life :)

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