#flowey sitting in front of his own memorial

[utytimeline]

THE most perfect picture in the game.

[cjsoleil]

You’re My Angel Baby (Mingi x Reader)

Summary: Y/N goes to a Halloween party and ends up taking care of a cute, drunk cowboy outlaw. Mingi wakes up in the morning with a vague memory of a girl dressed as an angel, and decides he has to meet her.

Halloween night, and somehow Y/N got swindled into joining her best friend, Seonghwa and his boyfriend, Hongjoong, to some party one of their friends planned. It took a lot of convincing, and even more bribery, but she did agree to go. She's dressed in a all white, a flowey long in the back short in the front dress with pure white boots. She put a silver, sparkly and floral headpiece in her hair and beside her sits a pair of fake white angel wings that she’ll put on when she gets out of the car. A cliche yes, but it was a little last minute. She borrowed the wings from a friend.

“Again with the pirate costume Hongjoong?” Y/N teases from the backseat. Hongjoong is wearing a bandana, white jeans, white shirt that is kinda like a blouse and a jacket. Clearly a pirate, “Is that three years in a row now?”

“Shut up.” Hongjoong snaps his usual comeback.

“You should appreciate me more Joongie.” Seonghwa pats the hand resting on his thigh, “I’ve been adapting my costumes to fit yours for years.”

“You don’t have to do that.”

“But I want couples costumes!” That’s true, Seonghwa dressed up as a pirate too a few years back, then a parrot, now the mermaid, well, more like siren. He did his make up to suit his look, wearing a sparkly dress with baggy pants and he painted little scales around his ears, neck, and hands. It’s very much a DIY costume, but still very pretty. He’s going to run out of ideas soon. Y/N zones back in to see the car stopped at a red light and the two boys smiling at each other all cute. She groans and wonders how she’s ended up being these two perminate third wheel.

“Do I really have to come?”

“Sorry dear.” Seonghwa coos and looks back at his friend, “But we need a sober driver.”

“Besides. Your a nursing student, you can stop people from dying from alcohol poisoning.” Hongjoong adds.

“I cannot. You better not bring some shit faced frat boy to me and expect me to take care of him. Or her. Anyone. It’s not my job to take care of people outside my placement.” Because Y/N is not interested in dealing with whatever asshole drank too much. If they get alcohol poisoning from being stupid, it’s not anyone’s problem but their own.

“Whatever you say ratchet.”

“I’ll show you ratchet, Hongjoong.”

“Be nice you two.”

At the party, Y/N makes sure to stay close to Seonghwa and Hongjoong, and she smiles pleasantly at the people they talk to. Luckily it’s not all bad, Jongho and Yeosang are there too, so at least there’s some people she knows. She watches over her friends while they drink, making sure they don’t do anything very stupid. She can condone a little stupidity. It’s all very boring. She doesn’t have a lot of people that she can talk to, and she doesn’t have anything to really do. There’s some people dancing on the open floor, but she’d honestly rather die than become involved with that. On the bright side, someone had the decency to provide food. So after telling her friends, she wanders into the kitchen area and looks at what they have. There’s candy in a big bowl on the counter, and obviously a shit ton of alcohol she’s not able to drink, nothing great. She wishes they had cinnamon doughnuts or something, when a plate on the counter further away catches her eye.

“What the hell!” She whispers shouts, going over and grabbing an candy apple. There very clearly bought by an actual place that knows how to make them based off how well made they are. So she eats one. Or four. Who knows. Fuck she wishes they had a caramel apple too. Those are the best fall treats.

Someone else wanders into the kitchen, Y/N ignores him. Then the sound of glass breaking catches her attention. She turns her head to see a boy dressed as a cowboy staring at the broken cup on the floor, the cupboard at his head is open. He’s wearing a hat and a mask that covers the bottom half of his face, a leather jacket and tight pants. Despite not seeing much of his face, the boy is clearly drunk based off his heavy movements and pink ears. He’s also, Y/N must admit, very attractive. Maybe it’s the effect of the mask, but she just knows a pretty face hides under the mask. She watches as he kneels down, about to pick up the glass.

“Stop.” The boy looks up at her, stopping his movement, “Stay still. You're going to hurt yourself.” After making sure the boy is actually listening to her, Y/N looks around the kitchen for a broom or something. She doesn’t end up finding one, but she does find a rag, so she goes back to the boy, rag in hand just to see him with large pieces of glass in his hand.

“What did I just say?” Y/N sighs and cleans up the glass around the man and taking the piece from his hand, throwing it all out. She goes back to the still kneeling cowboy and crouches next to him, seeing his hand is bleeding. She cringes, not because of the blood, she’s used to that, but just because she imagines it hurts.

“Look at this. You should have listened to me.” She scolds, and the boy has enough sense to be ashamed, looking down.

“Sorry Angel.” He says, speech a little slurred and she can tell he’s pouting behind the mask, “Help me? Please?” Y/N sighs, looks like she’s playing caretaker tonight after all. At least he seems to be nice. She helps him stand up, which is a little hard because he’s much bigger than her.

“What’s your name?”

“Mingi.” She introduces herself as well.

“Well Mingi, let’s get to a bathroom so you can stop bleeding all over the place.” Y/N walks with Mingi, keeping a hand on his back and stabilizing him when he stumbles. Mingi cups his good hand under the bleeding one, but a few drops still get on the floor. She just ignores it, not her problem.

Y/N notices that people are watching her and Mingi, but she just gives them a dirty look when they catch her eye.

“People need to mind their business.” She mumbles, looking around for wherever the bathroom could be. She doesn’t just want to open random doors. More out of fear of being traumatized than out of respect for the homeowners privacy. She doesn’t even know whose party this is, it wouldn’t matter if she chose to snoop a little. Well, that’s a little hypocritical considering what she just said.

“There.” Mingi points to a closed door and Y/N opens it to see a bathroom.

“Okay, wash your hand and go sit on the toilet while I look for a bandage.” Mingi obeys and Y/N rifles through the medicine cabinet. She grabs bandages and isopropyl, as well as a cotton ball.

“Hold out your hand cowboy.”

“Outlaw.” She hears him mumble as she dips some of the isopropyl onto the cotton ball.

“Hm?”

“Outlaw, not cowboy.” Y/N smiles, and gently grabs Mingi’s hand.

“Outlaw, this may sting a bit.” She plays into his words, because what is the harm? While she doesn’t know the difference between an outlaw and a cowboy, she’s not about to start an argument over it. Mingi only cringes a little when he feels the disinfectant. Then Y/N grabs the roll of bandages, wrapping his hand. Mingi stares at her as she works.

“Pretty Angel.” He mumbles out, and Y/N just barely catches it.

“What a charmer.” She laughs, not taking the words of a drunk man seriously. After a few more moments, she’s done with the bandage.

“There.” She pats his hand a few times, “Now there won’t be blood all over the place. Well, anymore blood. I feel bad for whoever has to clean that up.” She laughs and he looks up at her, staring with wide eyes. He keeps his hand held out to her, “What is it?”

“Kiss it better.”

“Huh?”

“Kiss it better please?” Now, anyone else and she would’ve said no instantly and walk away. But Mingi seems so genuine. And he’s so cute and sweet. So Y/N gives a quick kiss to the palm of his bandaged hand.

“Better?” Mingi nods excitedly. He’s still wearing his mask. He should probably take that off, what if he throws up?

“Mingi. Take off your mask please.” Mingi nods and lifts his good hand to his face, tugging at the fabric. But he doesn’t actually do anything efficient. Just how much did he drink? Finding this a little pathetic, Y/N decides doing it herself would be better.

“Mingi, how about I help you?”

“Sure.” She gets the mask off quickly, fingers just grazing against Mingi’s hot ears.

I was right she thinks when she sees Mingi’s face fully, he is hot. Okay, the stares make more sense now. She puts the mask on the sink.

“Thank you Angel.” He says, smiling at the girl.

“You do know that’s not my name right?” Based off Mingi’s confused look, it’s clear he does not understand that.

“Whatever. Do you have a friend to watch over you?”

“Yunho.” Mingi answers, a name Y/N is somewhat familiar with, “but he left. Don’t know where he is.” Y/N is irritated hearing that. Mingi’s friend just abandoned him while he’s clearly not in his right mind, what if someone took advantage of him? Or if he drank more and got alcohol poisoning, or made the stupid decision to drive? When this Yunho comes back, she’s going to give him a strong lecture on how to treat your intoxicated friends.

“We can hang out until he gets here then.” Mingi looks happy hearing that, smiling brightly.

“Thank you Angel.”

“You are so polite.” Y/N comments, and gives into her urge to pat his cheek gently. Then she helps him stand up again, but when he’s standing, Y/N notices that he looks a little off. She’s about to ask about it, but then she hears Mingi make a gagging sound.

“Shit!” She lifts the toilet seat and pushes Mingi to sit, just in time. Mingi throws up in the toilet, and Y/N rubs his back sympathetically. She takes off his hat and holds it in her other hand.

Once the sickness passes, Mingi leans back and is panting and sweating a little.

“Poor guy.” Y/N puts the hat on his lap before opening the drawer under the sink, grabbing a rag. She runs it over cold water and rings it out, before going back over to Mingi. She holds his chin and wipes his face gently. He hums in content.

“Feels good.” He hums again, Y/N compares him to a happy cat. When she’s done, she wets another rag and lays it over the back of his neck. She lets him be for a while, wanting the nausea to pass before even trying to move him again.

“Hey Mingi.” He looks over to her, blinking tiredly, “I’m gonna go do something real quick-“

“Noo.” Hands grab her wings, tugging at the fake feathers, “Don’t go.”

“It will only be for a minute.”

“Angel, stay with me please.” Y/N is left standing still. The sentiment means a lot more than it should, coming from a drunk man. She sighs, wondering whatever made her so soft hearted. Seonghwa and Hongjoong will just have to wonder where she is for a while. So she grabs the mouthwash from under the sink and fills the cap half way, giving it as well as a small cup she found for Mingi to spit in. When he does so, she cleans out the cup in the sink. Curse her for being so nice. And curse Mingi for being so cute. If he wasn’t, she probably would’ve just cleaned up his cut and let him be.

Okay, maybe she isn't really nice.

“Okay cowboy- sorry, outlaw.” She then clicks her tongue with though, “What am I going to do with you?”

“Want to go to my room.”

“Your room? Do you live here?” Mingi nods, stretching his neck.

“Yeah. With my roommates.” Well this makes things a little easier. She will simply bring Mingi to his bedroom so he can sleep this off, and he’ll wake up in the morning without any recollection of her, or anything else that happened tonight. As well as a massive hangover. He’ll probably have to skip class tomorrow, if he has any.

“Wait, do you know where you got those candy apples- actually don’t answer that. Are you feeling better?” Mingi nods, and Y/N squints her eyes at him, “Are you sure? Is your head dizzy, stomach hurting?”

“M’okay.” Well, he is definitely looking more alive than before, so Y/N choses to believe him.

“Up we go then.” She holds out her hands and Mingi grabs them, allowing her to hoist him up until he’s standing. Honestly, she’s pretty proud of herself for being strong enough to do that. When he’s stable, Y/N walks him down the hall until he points to a door, and tells her it’s his bedroom. She opens the door, and quickly ushers him to sit on his double bed that takes up most of the room. She understands the need though, he would never fit in a twin bed like her own.

“Tired Mingi?” The boy yawns in response, making her laugh. She helps Mingi with taking off his shoes and jacket, and Mingi takes off his own shirt.

Oh my god. Y/N has to stop himself from saying the words out loud. She can’t help it, he’s just so so hot. Like seriously, his face was beautiful enough as it is and his body- nope she can’t even think about it without feeling like a pervert. So she quickly pulls back the covers of the bed and gestures for Mingi to lay down there. Then she pulls the blankets over him. She stays standing beside the bed.

“There’s a place downtown that makes them.” Mingi says into the blankets.

“Makes what?”

“The apples. I don’t like sweet stuff very much, but I thought they’d be nice.” He yawns, “Expensive though.”

“I thought so.” Y/N laughs, before whispering playfully, “I’m pretty sure I ate like, half of them though. Sorry about that.”

“Did you like them?”

“Very much.”

“Then it was worth it.” Mingi smiles up at the girl, before patting the side of his bed. Y/N takes the invitation and sits.

“Sorry.”

“For what?”

“Ruining your night.” Y/N smiles, and pets Mingi’s dark hair. She had already put his hat on his nightstand.

“Believe me or not, but this was the best part of my night Mingi.” And really, it was. She’s not into parties, nothing about them is appealing to her. As much as she complained about it to her friends earlier, this was a much more pleasant experience.

“Angel.”

“Yes?”

“You’re so beautiful. And kind.” Mingi lifts a hand, grabbing her arm and really underestimated his strength, pulling the girl on top of him. Letting out a yelp, Y/N plants her hands on the sides of Mingi’s head on the pillow. This leaves their faces only inches apart, and Y/N can smell the alcohol on Mingi. That makes her break eye contact with him and start to push her arms upwards. Before she can get far, Mingi cups her face with one hand, thumb under her chin and fingers splayed out on her cheek. The action puts her in such a state of shock, she doesn’t react in time to move away from him as he lifts his head up, pressing his lips to hers.

Her eyes widen and she quickly pulls away before the kiss can be considered anything more than a peck. Mingi whines when she pulls away.

“Mingi, no.”

“Why not?”

“Why not?” She parrots, frowning a little, “You don’t even know who I am.”

“You’re my Angel baby.” He grins, lets out a little laugh before surging forward, kissing her again. Her mouth opens a little in surprise at being kissed again, giving Mingi the chance to push his tongue into her mouth, the taste of cheep beer still present. And Y/N is just disillusioned enough to lean in for a moment, and she probably would have actually reciprocated if her mind was any more fogged up from a simple kiss. But she’s not about to kiss someone who can’t possibly understand what they’re doing. Maybe kiss someone more would be more accurate.

So she pulls away again, this time pushing a hand on Mingi’s chest to keep him laying down flat on the bed. Mingi groans a little, a complaint, but doesn’t say much more. Until out of nowhere, he mutters.

“We should go out tomorrow.” Only a little fazed, Y/N shakes her head at the question.

“Honey, you’re probably not going to be able to stand properly tomorrow. Just go to sleep.” She continues to pet Mingi’s head, until she’s sure that he’s asleep. Standing up, she grabs the trash can in the corner of the room and puts it next to the bed. Then she grabs a sticky note from his desk and a pen. She writes a quick note, puts it on the nightstand before leaving the room, making sure to close the door as gently as he can.

The party is dwindling down, Y/N notes. So she easily finds Seonghwa and Hongjoong.

“Where were you?” Seonghwa asks when he sees her, “I was worried sick!”

“Sorry Hwa.”

“What were you doing?” Hongjoong questions.

“Playing nurse. Are you ready to go?”

“What happened to ‘I’m not taking care of some drunk loser’?”

“I guess he changed my mind.”

“He?” Seonghwa grins, making Y/N get this sudden feeling of dread, “Who was it? Was he hot? Was he nice to you? Of course he was, you would’ve kicked him to the curb if he was mean-“ Seonghwa trips over nothing, Hongjoong just catches him.

“Careful baby.”

“Thanks Joongie.” Seonghwa leans over and kisses the younger boy. Y/N pretends to gag.

“Wait, why is your face so red?”

“Let’s just go! Please.”

“Fine. You have to tell us all about this guy though!”

“Yeah yeah.”

When Mingi wakes up, he instantly wishes to be asleep again. His head hurts, and he feels so sick he can barely move. God, he shouldn’t have drank so much last night. He sits up, only to be hit with a wave of nausea that has him nearly doubled over.

“Fuck…” he takes a few deep breaths before standing up, groaning as he does so. He notices the trash can by his bed, and wonders how he had enough sense to grab that. Yunho must have moved it for him. His jacket, shoes and shirt are off, as well as his hat. Yunho must have done that too. He takes off his shirt and puts on a pair of sweatpants before heading to the bathroom.

When he comes out, he goes to the living room where Yunho greets him.

“Hey man-“

“Shhh.” Mingi holds his head in his hands as he sits on the couch, “Too loud.” Yunho’s voice was really just barely above a whisper.

“How much did I drink yesterday?”

“I stopped counting after the second beer and the third shot.”

“I swear Yunho, I’m never getting drunk again.” He looks down at his bandaged hand, and tries to recall exactly what he did to hurt himself.

“What happened to my hand?”

“How would I know?”

“Weren’t you the one that wrapped it?” Yunho stares at him with a surprised face.

“Damn, do you really not remember anything from last night?” Mingi shrugs.

“Pretty much.”

“Well, I left around half way through with a few others to grab some beer and you insisted that you stay here. You kept on saying ‘I’m feeling great’ so I just told you to be careful and left. By the time I came back, you were tucked into bed and sleeping like the dead.” Mingi nods along, realizing he can’t rely on Yunho to fill in the blanks of his memory.

“Wait actually, I saw a note on your nightstand.”

“Did you?”

“Yeah. Didn’t read it though.”

“Okay. Can you get me some painkillers or something?”

“Sure.” Mingi goes to his bedroom and there on the nightstand, is a bright pink sticky note. He grabs it and reads the words in black ink.

Hey Mingi,

I can imagine you have quite the hangover today, you were pretty drunk last night. Make sure to clean that cut of yours and wrap it up again, though it will probably be all healed in a few days (The power of a little kiss). Maybe I’ll see you around. Anyways, take care outlaw.

Yours, Angel.

Angel. Images of a woman with no clear face fills his mind. White feathers, the feeling of warm lips on his palm and a hand running through his hair.

Mingi comes out of his room, still holding the note.

“Yunho, did you see anyone dressed as an angel yesterday?”

“It was Halloween. Many people were. Why?”

“The girl that took care of me dressed as one. But I can’t remember her name.”

“What did she look like?”

“Uhh..” Mingi sheepishly scratches the back of his neck, “She was pretty? Look, I’ll know her when I see her.”

“Does that really matter?” Yunho asks, tilting his head, “I mean, yeah, I get that she took care of you. That was very nice of her, but do you have to meet her?”

“Of course I do.” Mingi lays back down on rhe couch, closing his eyes.

“Oh my god you have a thing for her. You have a thing for a girl who’s name you do not know, you don’t know what she looks like and know nothing about her as a person.”

“Not true.” Mingi objects, “I know she’s sweet, pretty, angelic.” Mingi snorts, “Oh, and that she likes candy apples.”

“Whoa Mingi, sounds like it’s time to pop the question to Miss Angel.”

“I wish she would’ve left her number.” Mingi complains, placing a pillow over his face.

“Well, I’ll ask around if anyone knows her, but it’s gonna be hard without knowing anything about her.”

“Thanks Yunho.”

“I’m heading to class, you staying in?” Mingi nods slightly, “Thought so. Painkillers are in the kitchen.”

“Thanks Yunho. See ya.”

“Later.”

The next day, Mingi actually does go to school. He was hoping that miraculously, Angel would be in one of his classes. Unfortunately, this was not the case for him. Yunho, like he said, mentioned her to some people but at last, no luck. Really though, he didn’t expect more. At the moment, he’s at a cafe near campus with Hongjoong and San, doing a little group review.

“Where’s your other half?” San questions Hongjoong, wondering where the older boy is.

“He’s in the library.”

“And you left him alone?” Hongjoong rolls his eyes.

“I would’ve followed, but Seonghwa said that I couldn’t since he and ratchet were studying for biology I think.”

“Ratchet?” Mingi questions.

“Y/N. Seonghwa’s nursing friend.”

“That is so mean of you.” San says, shaking his head at Hongjoong nicknaming this poor girl after a crazy murderous nurse. Mingi finds the name a little familiar, but he can’t put his finger on it, so he doesn’t question it.

“You weren’t in class yesterday.” San states.

“Yeah, i had this massive hangover. Felt dead.”

“What happened with your hand?”

“I don’t remember, but I think I cut it on a piece of glass or something.”

“Damn, you really were wasted.” Mingi can only agree.

“Please please please please-“

“Seonghwa.”

“Y/N please just tell me about this guy.” Seonghwa begs, shaking Y/N’s shoulders. She was supposed to tell him on the way home from the party, but he fell asleep right away. And yesterday they were too busy, “You don’t even need to tell me who it was.”

“Fine.” Y/N relents, shutting her text book, “He was tall, handsome and sweet.”

“Oh!” Seonghwa puts his hands over his heart, “All one could want in a man.”

“You only have two of the three.” Seonghwa kicks her but is still laughing.

“He asked if he could go out with me?”

“What? You said yes right?” Y/N shrugs.

“I didn’t say anything. It was just talk anyways. He was drunk.”

“Either way, you should have left your number with him.”

“No point, he didn’t even know my name. Just called me Angel the whole night.”

“That is so cute but unhelpful.” Seonghwa sighs, “What did you guys even do?” She tells her friend about the boy cutting himself by accident and having to clean up his cut, and tuck him into bed.

“So cute.” He analyzes his friend for another moment, “What aren’t you telling me?”

“Nothing.”

“Liar. I can tell. What’s up?” Y/N dramatically groans and puts her heads in her hands, mumbling her words, “Excuse me?”

“We may have… kissed.”

“You kissed!” Seonghwa exclaims, Y/N is quick to shush him.

“Shut up!”

“Sorry this is just crazy to me.”

“What is? That guys only want to kiss me when they’re drunk?”

“Ha. Who initiated it?”

“Him obviously.”

“Come on! Give me the details.” Y/N can’t refuse.

“He kissed me, I said that was irresponsible, he kissed me again and fell asleep like five minutes after.” Seonghwa aw’s as Y/N dramatically rests her head on her arms.

“Wait, is this not cute? Were you not okay with it? If not, I’ll find him and beat him up.” Y/N looks up at him, “Fine, Hongjoong will beat him up.” A long pause, “Jongho will beat him up.”

“There you go. But no, it was… fine? Really, If he was sober, I probably would have actually kissed him back.” Though if he was sober, she’s sure neither of them would have paid the other any mind whatsoever.

“You know if you tell me his name I could probably find him and you set you guys up.”

“Are you trying to get rid of me?”

“Noo.” Seonghwa pulls the girl into a hug, “We love you.”

“If you do, can we stop talking about this and study.”

“Fine. I have to go soon though, I said I’d meet up with Hongjoong later. Would you like to accompany us?”

“Ew.”

“You won’t be saying that when you and mystery boy get together. We can go on a double date!”

“Stop pushing your couple agenda on me.”

After a few hours of studying at the café, the two boys start to back up their bags to leave. San has already left. They hear the bell at the door ring, and Mingi’s sees Seonghwa make his way towards the table.

“Hey Joongie.” Seonghwa greets Hongjoong, leaning down to kiss his cheek before saying hi to Mingi.

“How are you guys?” He asks while sitting down.

“Good.” “Slightly hungover.” Seonghwa snorts at Mingi’s comment. But his laughter stops when he sees the bandage on Mingi’s hand.

“Hey, what happened with your hand?” Mingi looks down at his hand.

“I think I cut it on something, but I don’t really remember.”

“Huh.” Seonghwa hums for a moment before his eyes lighten up.

“Mingi, do you remember anything from your party?”

“A little bit yeah, why?”

“Did you spend anytime with a girl there? She-“

“Angel?” Mingi asks, wide eyed. He was planning to ask Hongjoong about her before they left.

“She was dressed as an Angel yes!” Seonghwa claps his hands in joy, “I’m so smart, I thought this would take longer to figure out.”

“Ohh.” Hongjoong says, just clueing in, “Mingi was the guy Y/N watched over at the party? Man, you didn’t tell me that.”

“I didn’t know who she was! I was gonna ask you if you knew a girl dressed as an angel.”

“Small world.” Seonghwa smiles, “She said you asked her out, is that true?”

“I really don’t know, sorry Hwa.” Mingi runs a hand through his hair, “But I’d love to actually meet her, thank her in person at least. Could you give me her number?” Seonghwa shakes his head.

“No, she’d be upset if I did that.” Patting the table, Seonghwa thinks, “but… if you did happen to run into her outside class, well that would be fate.”

“Would you?”

“I’ll text you her next class right now.”

“Thanks.”

“Don’t mention it. You’d be good together.”

“What?”

“Let’s go Hwa, bye Mingi.” Hongjoong and Seonghwa leave, and Mingi choses to ignore Seonghwa’s comment.

He leaves the café and starts walking back to his place. The street he’s on has a ton of little shops and bakeries, so he window shops a little as he makes his way. The a sight makes him stop. There in the window, is a display case of different candy apples. A picture plays in his mind, of a pretty girl in an Angel costume eating the candied fruit in his kitchen. His phone buzzes from his pocket, and he pulls it out and sees a text from Seonghwa. He texted the younger the building, classroom number, as well as the start and end times.

Are you sure she won’t mind?

It’s fine! Tell her I sent you

I’m glad I can blame you

Great. Have fun ;)

Mingi looks at the display case again, before stepping inside.

I hate kinesiology Y/N thinks as she steps out of her classroom. She makes her way out of the building, weaving through the crowd of people. When she’s outside, just a few meters away from the building door, she feels someone tap her shoulder. Turning around, she sees a sight she wasn’t expecting to see so soon.

“Mingi?”

“Hi Angel.” Mingi grins with a small blush on his face, one hand held behind his back.

“Isn’t this a surprise.” Y/N can’t help but smile.

“Yeah, um, I just wanted to thank you for taking such good care of me the other night. You didn’t have to.” Y/N shakes her head, waving a hand in the air.

“No problem. I’m surprised you remember me.” Mingi blushes more, and shifts his feet.

“Well, I kinda didn’t. But I saw your note and remembered a girl dressed as an angel, but not what you looked like.”

“Hm.” Y/N hums, and crosses her arms, shifting her weight to her right leg, “Disappointed?”

“God no.” Mingi answers immediately, “You’re pretty.”

“You said that.”

“Did I?”

“Multiple times. Thank you. How do you know who I am though? If you didn’t know what I looked like.” Mingi looks a little flustered and avoids eye contact.

“I ran into Seonghwa and he figured that you were the one who took care of me because of, well, this.” He lifts his own bandaged hand, “He told me your name and that you were here and that your class would be ending around this time so I came by to see if I could catch you. And I knew I would recognize you once I saw you. Even without the wings.” He spoke so fast, Y/N barely caught all of his words.

“I see. How’s the hand?”

“Good, uh, I was wondering what you meant, by your note?”

“The kiss comment?” Y/N laughs uncomfortably, pulling at the ends of her hair, “Well, um, you did ask me to kiss your hand better…”

“And?”

“You- don’t be upset please- you did kiss me. Twice.” Mingi looks ready to combust from the embarrassment he’s feeling.

“I did? Fuck, Y/N I’m so sorry.”

“It’s okay. You were-“

“Please don’t say I was drunk. That’s no fucking excuse.” Y/N smiles softly.

“Fine. I forgive you.” Mingi laughs.

“You shouldn’t give in so easily. Here.” He pulls the box from behind his back and presents the caramel apple to her.

“For you.” He tells her, watching as the girl gives him an expression of pure joy.

“You-“ Y/N starts, taking the boxed caramel apple from Mingi’s hand, “Are the sweetest.” It seems that Mingi remembered a little more than she thought.

“Seonghwa said that I apparently asked you out.” Y/N nods in agreement, Mingi takes a deep breath, “I wanted to let you know that the question is still open, I’d love to go out with you.” Silence is all he gets in response. He feels a sense of dread in his stomach, but that soon leaves when he actually looks at the girl to see that she looks… flustered?

“Really? Um, yeah that- that would be nice.”

“And…” Mingi takes a breath, stepping closer to the girl. He slowly lifts his hand and rests it in the nape of her neck.

“If it’s not too much to ask, could I get a little reminder of what I forgot?” Blood rushes to Y/N’s ears and her heart beats faster. She brings her hands to his shoulders, grabbing onto the fabric of his shirt.

“I suppose I can.” Mingi leans down and brings his face close to the girl. Before his lips can meet hers though, Y/N covers his mouth with her hand, “Not now.” Mingi grabs her wrist and kisses the palm of her hand.

“After an actual date.” Where I don’t witness you throw up. She doesn’t say that know. She doesn’t want to embarrass him too much just yet. With a quick motion of his wrist, Mingi links their hands and brings them down.

“Let’s go.”

“Where?”

“On a date. Duh.” Y/N grins.

“Aw, our first, completely sober date!”

“I’m never drinking that much again.”

When Halloween rolled around the next year, Mingi did, in fact, drink that much again. It’s okay though, he still had an angel to take care of him.

[extremelyblackandwhite]

innocence - 02

PAIRING: bodyguard!bucky barnes x innocent actress!reader

WARNINGS: age gap

A/N: i’m still stunned at how many of you are enjoying this story. thank you so so much for your support. much love xx

NEXT CHAPTER

Bucky always woke up at 5AM and waking up at 5 AM was already considered a victory for him - to sleep through the night. Once the digital clock flashed 5 AM in electric red, his eyes were wide open, the sight of constant darkness being the only thing he could see. His routine was precise, as precise as time itself and it barely changed - gym then a dark cup of coffee followed by reading whatever coffee side table book Steve would linger around.

Y/N, unlike him, didn’t have a precise routine. She enjoyed routine but her mornings were always her own time, away from everything. On her free days she would try to wake up by at least 10. After she was fully awake she would turn on the TV in her bedroom and turn on the kettle for a nice tea. She would then lay in bed, surrounded by her blankets and dressed in an oversized cardigan while some random show played.

Bucky’s mornings were always filled with people coming in and out, that was life living in the Avengers headquarters. Some mornings he thought about moving into the apartment in Brooklyn but that would just upset Steve. Heck, he didn’t even know Bucky had bought the apartment, it had been an impulse buy and he would go there every week to check on it. However, Brooklyn wasn’t as close to Y/N’s in SoHo so he guessed he would stay. Y/N’s mornings on the other hand were quiet, too quiet. It was just her, just her in a two bedroom apartment in the middle of wealthy SoHo.

      - Morning, Buck. - Steve, like always, walked into the kitchen, coffee mug saying number one dad in hand. He always had this smile that Bucky couldn’t find the words, a smile that was almost glad that he was still alive yet pitiful. The pure look of someone who’s been burdened, a mother to a child’s look, one she didn’t want. - Excited for guarding your first client?

      - Feels more like guarding property. - he mumbled over the dark coffee, chugging it all before anymore questions could be asked. 

It shouldn’t be a hard day, he thought to himself, mostly looking after her if she decided to go out for anything. He had looked into her profile, she was an easy target. Almost always wearing heels, flowey clothing, things that wouldn’t help her if someone was after her. Anyway, looked like an easy job, easier than saving the world.

Meanwhile, Y/N was laid in the middle of her covers, remote in hand as she skimmed through the channels. Looking around she noticed the loneliness she was in, the empty walls decorated with her own choosing but still empty. No sounds, too quiet. 

She rose from the bed, big socks touching the cedar wood floor as she padded up to the kitchen. The agency had had everything decorated and the fridge stocked but as she opened the door she couldn’t find a single thing she wanted to eat. Disappointed, she closed the fridge, leaning against it to look at the rest of the flat. It was quiet, too quiet, filled with the sounds of quiet if that was even a physically possible thing. She let herself slide down the fridge front, sitting on the floor as she thought about what to do. She didn’t have her script yet, or at least more than two pages of it and going outside was the least thing she wanted to do today.

Y/N was about to fall asleep on the ground against her fridge, she heard footsteps. Quickly, she got onto her feet, rushing over to the door so fast she almost slipped. Pushing the peep hole away she put herself on her tippy toes to see if one of the neighbours was home.

     - Y/N, are you staring out the peep hole? - the person whose steps belonged too was definitely better than any neighbour. Quickly, she unlocked the door, pushing the metal that held it shut to the wall and opened it to see Bucky in a much more casual attire than before. Red henley with some loose dark jeans looked better in her opinion. - If you hear someone it’s always a terrible idea to use the peep hole. Almost always let’s them know someone’s in.

     - Then what are peep holes for? - Bucky playfully rolled his eyes but not before observing what she was wearing. She looked more comfortable. - Do you wanna come in? 

     - Miss Olson said I am to wait outside your door until you want to leave the apartment.

     - What if someone broke my window and took me?

     - Trust me, Y/N. I would know and would win that fight. 

     - You sure you don’t wanna come in? I could cook you some breakfast. Whatever you like. - she had that shine in her eyes, Bucky couldn’t explain it. He just knew it didn’t felt forced but she surely was nervous judging by the pushing of her oversized cardigan’s sleeve to cover her hand. - The agency filled my fridge with so much food I don’t know what to do with it.

     - I’m not a breakfast kind of person, Y/N.

     - Breakfast is the most important meal of the day. - her small hand came to rest over his wrist, pulling at it so he would go inside. He found it amusing how someone who was much shorter than him, head barely hitting his collarbones, would try to move him. Although, surprising wasn’t the fact that he moved but the fact that she touched him, she touched the Winter Soldier.

Bucky wasn’t a kid anymore, he wasn’t naive and he lacked Steve’s “all good” view of the world so he knew what people thought of him. They thought he had been of use but at the end of the day he had been the Winter Soldier for 70 years. They didn’t dare touch him but her she was inviting him into her home and touching him as if he were an old friend.

Once he got in, he immediately looked at everything. There were fake flowers everywhere in little glass jars, if they were broken and she were trying to escape she would get hurt, too many windows and not a lot of mirrored surfaces, people could look in. 

     - Would you like some pancakes? French toast? - her voice interrupted his inspection. - My mom was a cook, I can cook pretty much whatever you want. Can’t promise it will be as good as a cook’s but it’ll be edible.

     - You really don’t need to feed me, Y/N. - his gaze returned to her apartment, open doors everywhere.

     - I just thought ... since you’re going to be around a while we should be friendly with each other. - she looked down at her feet before looking up again, head slightly looking to the side. - I don’t know anyone in here, I didn’t even pick this apartment so I thought I would at least get to know you.

She felt ashamed, heat seemed to radiate from her cheeks to her whole body. Back at the theatre everyone knew each other, they all had show themed hoodies and would say hi whenever they came in and left but things in Hollywood were different. In her first movie she had made friends with only one cast member who still spoke to her but everyone else did their job and returned to their lives without a single hello. She thought that maybe knowing Bucky would make having someone constantly in her life a bit easier but she understood his position.

Bucky himself seemed to read that all on her face and as he did a thought popped into his head “they are gonna eat her alive”. 

     - Let’s try that French Toast. - she smiled at his answer, once again pulling his hand towards the kitchen. It was spacious for a SoHo flat, with cut edge technology and also a very visible knife set. He would have to tell her to put that somewhere else. 

She on the other hand quickly assembled all she needed, placing it on the marble countertop, a happy grin on her face as she started to prepare the meal. It reminded him of memories he had tried to suppress.

     - Mum’s a cook, why are you an actress? - those memories were still memories he wasn’t ready to get back and as such he reckoned speaking with her would keep it out. 

     - I don’t really know how to explain it. - she smiled, pulling a few hair strands behind her ear. - My mum took me to a musical after I didn’t get cast in the nativity play. It was Phantom of the Opera, I just remembered that chandelier rising and crashing and the energy of the performers. There was just ... that was time stopping and rushing at the same time. And the look on the performers faces as they finished a piece, god it was just, I had never seen and I don’t think I have ever seen such passion in someone’s face. 

Bucky moved his head ever so slightly, she seemed to be lost in her own memories, a daydream gaze washing over her features. He wondered what it was like to have memories to be proud of.

     - I’m sorry, I must sound like a sap. Why do you become a bodyguard?

     - I like a challenge.

     - That’s what you told me yesterday. - she placed a beautiful set plate in front of him. Beautiful things make beautiful things, that’s what his mother once told him. Maybe she was right.

     - What can I say, I’m not that interesting. 

     - I don’t know if that’s true. - she added a coffee cup to the French Toast, before pulling a chair. - You know, if I’m at home you don’t need to be outside my door, you can come in.

     - I wouldn’t want to intrude on your personal space.

     - It’s not really my personal space. The agency bought the flat and decorated it themselves so I guess it’s just the space I live in. I don’t really know the city yet so you’re mostly waiting outside for nothing. - she shrugged.

    - How long have you been in New York?

    - A little over 5 months. I was in California during my last movie and prior to that I was living in Haymarket in London. How long have you been in New York?

    - I was born in Brooklyn, about half hour away from here. Lived here my whole life ever since ... at least the part of it I could control.

Bucky waited to see that pity look, the one everyone in the team seemed to give them whenever they looked at him but she didn’t. She merely wrapped her hand around his, caring smile of someone who almost looked proud he existed or proud he was alive. They’re gonna eat her alive, he thought to himself once again.

    - Hey, you could show me around. - she suggested, jumping from the high chair onto the floor.

    - I don’t hang around SoHo, Y/N. 

    - Well, you could show me Brooklyn. Isn’t Coney Island in Brooklyn?

    - You wanna go to Coney Island? - he chuckled. - I don’t think your agency would enjoy that. Too public.

    - They don’t need to know. - she smirked playfully. - If you don’t tell them they won’t know.

    - You’re a celebrity, trust me you’ll be noticed. 

    - You said on your CV you were good at blending and disappearing into a crowd. Please, I’ll get you whatever you want in Coney Island.

    - Whatever I want? - he furrowed his eyebrows at her and she nodded. - Alright, Y/N.

taglist: @disasterbii @lookiamtrying @buckysteveloki-me @nsfwsebbie @americasass81 @jamesbarnesappreciationclub @lostinthebeans @mariahthelioness29 @buckyandsebastian @peaches-roses-sins @theadorasabditory @sipsteacasually @tonystankschild @saiyanprincessswanie @booktease21 @noiralei @learisa @everythingisoverrated @uglipotata72829 @naturalthrone22 @husherstan @mandiiblanche @vicmc624 @newyorkgoddess​ 

[spirit-shroud]

what are some roles that have been largely changed for cityrune? since you said queen was an influencer now :]

hi ty for asking me im vibrating. havent gotten to talk about this au now for three years and now that chapter 2 is like real and this time i can like........draw occasionally and i have more understanding of nuance...... [grips table] [screams]

this isnt quite what you asked but heres what's everyone from chapter 1 has been Up To with a little bit of context (and under a read more bc it got LENGTHY):

kris - professional stay at home teen (they live w/ asgore n help run the flower shop sometimes. this decision was entirely bc i dont like toriel). was wrongly diagnosed w Sudden Soul Rejection when they were incredibly young and given an experimental transplanted soul as a replacement. it works for them fine, give or take having to see gaster once a month for checkups. but sometimes the soul makes them skittish n decides they're going to sit in front of the pc and play 30 consecutive hours of a certain simulation game and not even let them drown people in the pool. if it were entirely up to them, they'd be like. passing out on the sofa to documentaries about bigfoot. or practicing cool knife tricks to impress their friends at their next tabletop meetup

- EDITED IN: the soul is kind of their friend. they are wearing a hypothetical get along shirt. most of the time, they agree on actions and things to do. tends to refer to themself + their soul as we/us which originally was just something they did in their head but they kept slipping in speech/text n just became a Thing of how they talk. switches to 'I/Me' whenever smth is wrong.

- also edited in: they believe the soul they have is their original soul bc nobody has told them otherwise. whenever theyre like 'oh yeah we think about our soul n view it as a separate entity to us like. all the time. it likes to hurt if we make too many choices it doesn't seem to like and kind of forces us to be a toned down version of what we want to be but thats just how souls are haha' and everyone is like.... 'Hey Kris That's Really Not How It Is.' theyre like. 'huh. gonna ignore that for now' - this was going to be a plot point

toriel - head of H0MEWOR1D (H01)'s department of education; kind of lost her roots as a simple math teacher as she was pushed into a lot of power she didn't even really seek out. divorced asgore over some miscommunications in their relationship; also loosely as a result of grief from asriel's death

asgore - the same. runs a lil flower/gift shop. people come in more to talk with him than to buy flowers most of the time, though

asriel Flowey - he's back in flower form, thanks to the government an accident. causes a lot of technology glitches wherever he goes, and wants revenge. isn't sure how to go about it. asriel "died" around 8 years before the story takes place and kris still misses him and refuses to even THINK about even the IDEA of calling someone their sibling after what happened, just in case it somehow happens a second time

susie - more of the same really. she spends most of her time either at grillby's (she's sort of become his assistant n helps with opening/closing. it just happened) or getting into low-stakes trouble w/ kris

noelle - she's in the city's equivalent of college and shes so tired. shes So Abysmally Tired n got kinda pushed 2 follow in her mom's footsteps. she's rarely around anymore except through text or on monsters & mages (dnd) night. (however.........she will come back w/ a long break n hang out w everyone again)

berdly - tbh i didnt even consider berdly when i made the au initially. idk what he's doing. probably in a similar situation to noelle??? canonically got kicked out of the M&M group due to clashes w/ other players but lurks in their group chat to posts memes sometimes

didnt rly think of any other of kris' classmates (+ their families) after ch1 and probably will continue to not, until chs 3-5 come out and i gotta whip up roles and histories for like. a lotta guys all of a sudden. i also forgot about noelle's parents

sans - runs a convenience store that everyone kind of thinks is a front, but also it has really cheap snacks and the local teens make a point of stopping there after school. so essentially, more of the same papyrus - similar to ut. is a very polite and sweet boy but you'll know when he's coming

grillby - he's back. he runs a bar like back in ut but the cozy vibes and weird-for-a-bar hours keep attracting kids who need parents, so half of his menu is comprised of overly sweet mocktails. usually only frequented by monsters

QC - same as usual. has a "rivalry" with grillbz but, theyre besties and have a book club

mettaton - he's real and he's back. he's similar to how he is back in ut w/ his EX body. likes to hang out at grillby's and talk to unsuspecting fans. has a show for everything

napstablook - similar to how they are in ut. helps mtt with making music sometimes. doesn't leave the house too often, but spends a lot of time posting on undernet

undyne - unfortunately. more of the same. she is a cop in the monster district. i am also upset by this but couldn't think of anything better for her

alphys - a doctor studying under dr. gaster in the hopes she'll one day take over his research. she spends most of her time as a nurse with a bigger title, though, and blocks out the weirdness of her job with anime.

gaster - weird guy. H01's top soul researcher and resident House wannabe. trying to manufacture the ultimate soul that can be controlled with simple internal switches, but so far he's only had 1 (very limited) success with a certain human. monsters just melt, and darkners just sorta......get weird... he's onto Something, though.

ralsei - lonely boy with some very strange hobbies. popular on UnderNet for poetry, baking videos, and general cryptid vibe. is the DM for the monsters & mages group (also seems to think everything is actually very fine in H01 when it is very much not)

lancer - about the same. professional Round Boy. lives w/ rouxls full time. follows susie around like a lost puppy and calls himself her "underling."

rouxls - runs a hotel/casino kind of deal where the objective Bad Guys hang out, and usually ends up doing any of the spade king's paperwork.

spade king - mafia godfather. kind of a dick. don't play cards with him

seam - works with the spade king as his right hand cat more or less because they have for a lot of years and are in that 'sunk cost fallacy' zone. thinks of retiring to a quiet life in the monster section of town like, daily

jevil - used to work with the spade king, but got imprisoned for Crimes. got weird after The Accident (separate from asriel's accident)

temmies (all) - dont really get mentioned except offhandedly but they run the monster space station. so far, are the only monsters who have ever been to space.

as far as chapter 2 goes:

yeah i dont have much so far for characters. in the original version of the au i accidentally made darkners as a whole just kinda..... not great? like all sorts of weird organized crime ties n sort of going out of their way to be A Problem to the city (not even in like. a revolution way. in a working against them but with the same goals kinda way). with the whole context it worked At The Time, bc i just had the spade king to look to as a villain, and also in this au the darkners are just trying to survive a world that ultimately was not built for them (that humans think they own, and monsters sort of... seeing this and wondering what it'll mean for them whichever one wins), but w/ new info abt how the dark world works n more guys to work with i want to kind of. edit the vibe a bit. like yea darkners will ultimately do whatever it takes to take over H01, but maybe in a better way than like. idk. all this. it doesnt have to be peaceful or anything it just has to be more adaptable as we meet more kinds of darkners

however yeah i thought up 'queen as some sort of childless mommy blogger/influencer' and that completely revived all memory i had of this au. she should be on mtt's talkshow. also she sells collectible wine glasses w/ her likeness

spamton is another one of gaster's failed soul experiments, but he hasn't melted yet, and seems............fine? sort of. so he hasn't gotten decommissioned yet. he does want to give you malware tho. hot monster singles in your area n all that

im blanking on the rest of the guys but i hope any of this was comprehensible

[terrietont]

I’ve been writing an Asgore x Toriel fanfiction after seeing the lack of them online since I really like this pairing a lot. I wanted to make covers for each chapter but I’ve written eleven chapters so far. Each of them are little stories of Toriel and Asgore a long time after the pacifist ending of Undertale when they eventually become friends again and what brings them closer.

Undertale: Reconciling

Working out their flaws and issues, Asgore and Toriel become good friends again, things start off small but gradually get bigger for the two and their love grows deeper and deeper as time goes on until they can no longer hold back from eachother.

Today was Asriel’s birthday. Asgore was sitting in his chair looking through an extremely dusty anniversary book of his days as a father and when Asriel was still alive.

He sighed, flipping to a page where he, Toriel, Chara and Asriel were all cuddling up for a family photo, flowers in Chara’s hands and Asriel holding their hand. Asgore smiled. He felt his lips quiver as he caressed the photo soflty. A sudden knock on his front door startled him out of his memories.

He opened the door to be greeted by a familar face. One he wasn’t expecting this day.

Toriel smiled sadly, looking at Asgore. “You really shouldn’t be alone, especially on this day.” She said seriously. Asgore smiled softly and let her in.

Asgore, trembling held the photo album in his paws. Toriel gently held his paw as he found himself relaxing from her touch.

Toriel sat down on Asgore’s couch. “I thought we could share some pictures together” Asgore walked over timidly holding the large book. She smiled as he joined her on the couch. Only the sound of the old pages opening and a ticking clock was heard throughout the house. Asgore sighed deeply and flipped through the beginning of the book and towards a section where a picture of a newborn Asriel was shown, eyes closed and sleeping soundly in his mother’s arms.

“Do you remember when he was first born?” Toriel smiled, gazing at the photos. Asgore nodded and gently carassed the photo. “He was so small, so delicate” she continued, smiling at the memory.

“I remember when we first taught him to walk.” Asgore turned the page to a dusty photo of Asriel on two legs, holding Asgore’s large hands and trying to stand up, wearing a smaller version of his signiture striped green shirt.

“He tried to do so much on his own” Toriel giggled flipping through a photo of a nervous Asriel reaching for a cookie jar on a large chair. They flipped through a page where he was seen sitting in a high chair, cake all over his face looking very grumpily at the camera. The photo made the two laugh soflty.

The next photo put the two boss monsters in silence. It was a picture of the fallen human and Asriel cuddling up for a photo. Asriel looking brightly at the camera and Chara scowling In embarrassment.

“I remember how close they were” Chara’s photos with Asriel from then on were smiling and happy.

The Dreemurrs flipped through more pages until the the rest of book was filled with blank pages. This emptiness made Asgore sniffle in sadness.

Toriel leaned on him with a saddened frown as he held her paw tightly.

“It is going to be alright” she reassured soflty.

“I know...” she sighed. “I miss them too...”

The Dreemurrs leaned on one another in their time of need. Asgore finally letting tears leave his eyes.

From a distance, Flowey watched. Nothing but emptiness in his body... but somewhere deep down, he felt... remorse. Somehow. Asriel was desperate to give his family a hug and tell them that everything was okay. This however would be impossible.

[the-river-person]

Void Stone

They’d been waiting for nearly eight hours for Sans to wake up. When he finally opened his eyes, Papyrus enthusiastically hugged him. “BROTHER! IT IS GOOD TO SEE YOU AWAKE! I WAS SO VERY WORRIED ABOUT YOU!” Papyrus had arrived from work some time during the midst of the procedure and had been pacing frantically back and forth in the hall while Flowey, Monster Kid, and DT watched him. Finally Gaster had appeared and told them to come in but stay quiet because Sans would need to sleep off the effects of the anesthesia and the procedure for a while. So the four of them had been playing a boardgame on the floor next to the bed where Sans had been placed while Gaster insisted on returning to work, saying that he had to adjust the method of treatment before he could help his own assistants and the Amalgamates. “Hey Bro,” said Sans, who clearly wasn’t entirely awake yet but happy to be hugged first thing anyway. “How’d I do? Do I get a lollipop for being a good boy at the doc’s?” He grinned cheekily, despite his tiredness. Papyrus rolled his eyes. “WELL I WAS CONSIDERING GETTING YOU SOME NICE-CREAM, BUT NOW I’M NOT SURE IF I’M GOING TO.” “Aww, c’mon Bro.” “OH VERY WELL, BUT ONLY BECAUSE I’M SO VERY FORGIVING AND GENEROUS.” Sans actually laughed. “You’re the coolest, Papyrus.” Gaster, who had noticed the commotion and come over, was smiling slightly. “Well, I’m glad to see you feeling well. That is an excellent sign. Now, would you like to know more about the procedure you went through? Or would you prefer ignorance?” The way he said it made everyone feel like he was going to be judging them very hard for making the second choice, and Sans must have felt the same way because he agreed rather quickly to hear what his Uncle had to say. “It was actually much simpler than you would expect. I simply placed a fragment of the crystal in this cave, a substance called Kenón which is formed by exposure of igneous rock to the influence of the Void, in your soul and added a minuscule amount of Determination. The resulting reaction is the same as that which saved my life after my accident, and I was certain that it would keep you anchored in this reality instead of in the Void. I sent out my assistant to ensure that you were now remembered by those in the Underground and they returned with the news that Monsters did indeed remember and care about you, though none aside from the King and Queen are aware of anything distressing with their memories. And I’ve managed to permanently halt your transformation into the memoryless and mindless state that befell my own assistants, which would have been the eventual result of your condition. All in all, the whole procedure was a success.” Sans gulped slightly, looking like he had suddenly decided he would rather not have known quite how bad it had actually been. Thing’s hadn’t seemed nearly as dire when he was still going through it all. But not everyone was quite ready to close the book. Flowey piped up from the corner where he’d retreated, and he sounded generally irritable, which wasn’t that unusual for him anyway. “Are there gonna be side effects? Will he sprout bat wings? Or suddenly learn to speak that crazy language you write all over your notes?” The Scientist frowned, looking vaguely unsettled, but he chose to direct his answer at Sans instead of Flowey. “There is the possibility of some side effects. Kenón is crystalline in nature, with exposure to your soul in this way, with its increased determination and everything else, it might continue to grow and spread to your body, which is an extension of your magic as you know. You may find that over time you will have to remove crystals growing upon your bones. I doubt any will be big or particularly troublesome, but left untended they it could cause discomfort.” It was a lot to take in, and though not impossible, it was proving difficult for most of them to tell what he was feeling. No one had told him yet, but his eye sockets hadn’t yet returned to normal. There was no white iris in the middle of black shadows. Instead it was simply the pale grey void, the emptiness that mirrored the eyes of Gaster’s assistants. Still, Papyrus had long since learned the telltale signs of his brother’s body language, and the slumped way Sans was sitting and the careless way he had his arms folded in front of him told him that Sans was exhausted and probably not really processing any of this. No, he needed time. “ALRIGHT, I CANNOT BELIEVE THAT I AM SAYING THIS, BUT MY BROTHER NEEDS HIS SLEEP! CAN HE STAY HERE FOR THE NIGHT?” This last question was aimed at Gaster, who nodded. “EXCELLENT! I WILL RETURN FOR YOU LATER, SANS! AND I’LL BRING THE NICE-CREAM WITH ME!” They all began to crowd out the door, Papyrus shooing them on the way. Monster Kid grumbled about waiting all that time and only getting to see Sans for a few minutes and DT echoed the sentiment, but the younger skeleton brother was not moved and firmly pushed them out the door ahead of him. In the fuss, none of them noticed Flowey resurface back into the room before the door closed. Gaster sighed and returned to his work. In the short time that it had taken for everybody to leave, Sans had already fallen asleep.

[mrfandomgage]

[What other reason should a learning program have for existing other than to make it's own decisions and it's own world built upon previous knowledge?]

"Mom", Mod says into the phone, "I'm scared".

"It, will be fine my child. I know you can handle yourself", Toriel's voice caries through the receiver, "just, don't get hurt, okay".

"Okay. I love you. Bye". Mod sits on the floor. Flowey pops out of the ground in front of it. It screams crawling away from him.

"Wait! Wait", Flowey shouts, "doesn't something feel off to you?"

Mod shrugs, "you're trying to talk to me, that feels pretty off".

"I mean someone is missing".

"Yeah, I don't know where Frisk is either".

"Frisk? Who the hell is Frisk?"

"My friend?" Mod says confused, "aren't you supposed to be able to remember past resets?"

"Well, yeah, but I don't remember anyone named Frisk".

"I guess they don't exist anymore", Mod sounds on the verge of tears.

Sighing, Flowey complains, "stop being such a crybaby. I guess you remember what's wrong at least".

Mod brings its knees to its chest, "I just don't like being alone".

Flowey draws them into a fight, "if you don't like being alone, how about I-", Flowey pauses, and shouts, "WHAT THE- HOW DO YOU HAVE A MONSTER SOUL!?"

"It isn't. My soul is just white".

Flowey grows frustrated, "How! How is your soul white! There's no human trait where a human has a white soul! I've been around a while and that just simply isn't something real!"

"I still exist"

Giving up, Flowey sighs, "well, maybe instead of taking that thing off you, maybe I can stick around you, how does that sound?"

Mod thinks on it. It remembers being torn to shreds by the flower. It remembers being killed several times by the flower. It fears being alone. Mod doesn't want to be by itself. Right now, he's small and cute, maybe he won't harm it.

"I don't want to be alone, so it would be nice", Mod tells the flower.

Flowey smiles his fakist smile, "well, what a joy!"

"I know you're faking it, you already promised to kill everyone I loved and I'll assume you're still planning on doing that".

"When did I? Oh resets", Flowey remarks, "you're taking the fun out of this".

"Didn't you say you can't feel anything?" It replies. Mod stands up and starts walking. Mod completes puzzles as Flowey watches. Toriel calls asking what Mod prefers. Butterscotch, always a good answer. Flowey then gets antsy.

"Hey, I would've been following you anyways, but popping up out of the ground to be with you, by your side takes a lot of work", Flowey starts with his arguement, "so maybe, I can wrap around your arm or something, to make my travel faster and being closer to you".

Mod thinks, "you're a plant, don't you need to be in some sort of ground to sustain yourself?"

"Well, I'm still a monster. Surely I can survive without being hooked to the ground all the time".

"Well, if you say so, but please tell me if you need to be on the ground".

"You got it, Buddy". Mod gets its arm close to the ground. Flowey wraps himself around it, and makes sure he stays on firmly. "Ready to go!" He says in a cheery voice. Mod is still unconvinced.

Mod walks through the ruins, falling into pits, crunching leaves, and solving puzzles. It does so pretty quickly remembering patterns in its collected memory, but also wanting to still explore as its predecessor once did. Flowey starts growing confused.

"Why is nothing attacking you?" Flowey questions.

"I'm black and white, and even you thought I had a monster soul", Mod explains. Flowey recollects his past memories. It carries on, walking down the old beaten path. Solving the same old puzzles. Mod walks to see the old dead tree. Toriel rings Mod, before seeing them right there with Flowey.

Toriel gasps, "Is he hurting you?" In fear she prepares to attack.

"He saw that I was sad, and apologized to me!" Mod spouts out explaining, "He's trying to be my friend and come with me because I'm scared being by myself!"

Toriel breathes a sigh of relief, "alright my child, but I will try keeping a close eye on him, he did try to kill you".

"It'll be ok", Mod mutters.

"Actually, I think you were right earlier, put me back in the ground", Flowey demands quietly.

"Could I possibly get a flower pot?" Mod asks, letting Flowey off its arm and back onto the ground.

"Very well my child", Toriel turns and walks to her home. It stares at Flowey, crouching next to him.

"I asked someone else this last time, but I don't think he understands resets or humans", Mod starts, "I met someone in a weird sequence of events, and I want to know who they are".

"Huh? Look, I never encountered any other hu-", Flowey is cut off.

"Who is Chara?"

"Ch-Chara. Golly I really", Flowey takes a deep friend, "Well, okay. Chara was my best friend, it's hard to forget that".

"You had friends?"

"... a very, very long time ago".

"Chara gave me a very sweet, but melty candy, what was that?"

"Chara gave you Chocolate!? How?! When!?"

"So it's chocolate?"

"That can't be Chara, they'd never share their chocolate".

"Why?"

"It was a comfort treat of theirs, we don't know what happened, but they would never share any chocolate... well except for maybe once... But it definitely would never happen with a human!"

"How about a human that looks like a monster?" Flowey goes silent. Toriel comes back with the pot. Mod and Toriel dig up some dirt for Flowey's new home.

[for-a-flower]

Undertale

           Alphys hurried down the hall to join Frisk.  "Sorry about that!" she said.  They walked together in the long hall.  Frisk still didn't feel ready to meet Asgore.  He was worried.  "So . . . you're about to meet Asgore, huh?" said Alphys.  Frisk nodded.  Alphys glanced away.  "You must be . . . pretty excited about all that, huh?"

            Frisk shook his head.  "No . . . I'm terrified," he said.  The two walked in silence a moment.

            Alphys’ reluctant response didn’t offer the encouragment the child had been hoping for.  "Well . . . you'll finally get to go home!" Alphys said.  As she shuffled along nervously, it was obvious neither of them were sure of the immediate future.  They reached the elevator.  Alphys stopped a few feet away and watched the doors open for him.  Frisk stepped toward the doorway.  Alphys held out a hand.  "Wait!" she called.

            Frisk glanced back.  "What?"

            Alphys scratched her head with a nervous grin.  "Oh, I mean . . . I was just going to . . . um . . . say goodbye and . . ."

            Frisk sighed and stepped away from the elevator.  "What is it, Alphys?  You might as well tell me.”

            Alphys frowned.  "I can't take this anymore," she mumbled.  "I . . . I lied to you."

            "Hu?  About what?"

            She lowered her head.  "A human soul isn't strong enough to cross the barrier alone," she said.

            "So . . . how am I ever supposed to leave?"

            "It . . . it takes at least a human soul . . . and a monster soul."

            Frisk stared.  "What?"

            Alphys slowly lifted her head with a frown.  "If you want to go home . . . you'll have to take his soul.  You'll have to kill Asgore."  The child was speechless.  All this time . . . and no one other than Chara and Flowey had told him to kill someone.  What was he supposed to do?  Alphys shook her head on the verge of tears.  "I'm sorry," she said.  She turned and ran, leaving the human alone by the closed elevator doors.  After a moment, Frisk stepped toward the elevator.  The door opened again.  He walked in and pushed a button to take him to the highest level.  The door closed and the elevator started upward.  It seemed to take hours to get where it was going.  Frisk sighed, his gaze glued to the floor in front of him.  He didn’t like this.  Maybe Flowey and Chara were right.  In order for anyone to escape the underground, there seemed to be only two options . . . kill or be killed.

            Frisk stepped from the elevator into a hall of brick.  The path ahead was dull but more kept than the Ruins had been.  Frisk moved onward by himself.  In complete silence, the child continued down a long, empty street in the capital.  He glanced around in confusion.  Everything was quiet . . . like on one was around . . . like they had all left.  But they had nowhere to go.  Why would it be so empty?  He turned left, following the street.  He saw a high wall and an open gate ahead.  Was this the castle entrance?  Frisk passed through the opening into a smaller, enclosed area.  He saw a small home with a wooden door and windows on either side.  He stopped a few feet from the door as a frown crept across his face.  This home was built nearly identical to Toriel’s in the Ruins.  Frisk’s mind jumped back as he remembered Toriel happily leading him to her home.  The brief memory was accompanied by a deep pain.

           Frisk sighed and reluctantly opened the door.  His mouth dropped open as the door slowly swung to the side.  He felt tears coming but tried to hold them back.  The home’s interior was exactly the same as Toriel’s as well, with one exception.  It lacked color and life.  It seemed empty, abandoned, and pretty much how Toriel's home probably looked now.  Frisk shook his head, wiped his eyes, and forced himself to continue in.  He glanced down a hall to the right then toward a dining room on the left.  There were various Golden Flowers in vases and pots scattered around the house to bring some life to it.  But there still seemed to be a lingering emptiness.  Frisk approached a staircase which he knew led out of the house.  A large chain with two locks blocked the entrance, but there was a note attached to it.  Frisk read the note.  'Howdy!  I'm in the garden.  If you have anything you need to get off your chest, please don't hesitate to come.  The keys are in the kitchen and the hallway.'

            Frisk sighed.  He was hoping to avoid walking through the whole home.  "Don't make me do this," he mumbled.  He left the main room and quickly entered the hall.  He spotted the first key on a stand near the mirror.  He started toward it but stopped at the first door on the left.  Frisk glanced through the open door.  There were a few differences with this bedroom.  This one had two beds, one against the left wall and one by the right.  There were several dusty children’s toys lying around.  Frisk moved inside toward a shelf with a few things lying on it.  There were a couple toys, a drawing of a Golden Flower and a rainbow, and a heart-shaped locket.  Frisk picked up the locket.  He couldn’t open it so he turned it over and read the words 'Best friends forever' on the back.  Frisk smiled and put the object in a pocket.  He glanced at the bed and nightstand against the left wall.  His eyes locked onto a worn dagger, which lay on the stand beside the bed.  Frisk froze in fear and regret.  He stood a few feet from the knife, staring at it.

            "You know what you have to do," said Chara.

            Frisk lowered his head to hide his face.  He sat on the bed, sniffling.  ‘No.  I can't kill anymore.  I can't make myself do it,’ he thought.

            "Don’t you want to get out of here alive?  Pick up the knife and use it!"

            ‘Why did you come back?  Go away.  Stop making me feel like this.’

            "You don't know what or who Asgore is.  What if he is a monster . . . an awful one.  Would you let him live?  Would you spare his life?"

            Frisk scowled.  "I don't know!" he shouted.  He wiped tears from his eyes.  Several seconds passed as the human calmed himself.  "Just . . . let me make my own choices without bothering me about them."  Quiet.  A few minutes passed.  Frisk's head was down, hair covering his eyes.  He let out a sigh then lifted his left hand and reached over to grasp the dagger’s handle.  He could feel Chara's following excitement.  Frisk lifted his head, a frown on his face.  "I'm not doing this because you told me to," he said.  "I'm doing it because I need a way to protect myself.  I won't kill him with it."

            "It's a weapon.  That's what it’s for," said Chara.

            Frisk slid off the bed.  "No . . . it’s not.  Not to me.  Not anymore."  He left the room and rushed down the hall.  He snatched the key and paused to look in the mirror.  He was a complete mess, egg in his hair and drops of milk splattered over his striped shirt . . . not fit to meet the monster king.  However, he didn't have much of a choice.

            “Despite everything . . . it’s still you,” said Chara.  Frisk turned around to head back to the main room, but there was a Froggit sitting on a colorless rug before him.  For a second, he thought it would attack, but the frog creature instead spoke to him.  

           "A long time ago, a human fell into the Ruins.  Injured by her fall, the human called out for help," it croaked.  The Froggit then hopped aside to allow Frisk to pass.  Confused, Frisk stepped around it and hurried to the kitchen.  As he passed through the dining room, noting two large and two small chairs at the wooden table.  He entered the kitchen and found another key on the counter.  He put both on the key-chain of his phone then read a second note on the kitchen counter.  'Howdy!  Help yourself to anything you want!' it said.  Frisk shook his head and kept moving.  He stopped again when a Whimsum fluttered through the kitchen doorway.

            "Asriel, the king's son, heard the human's call," it said softly.  "He brought the human back to the castle."  Frisk stared at the bug creature in confusion.  The Whimsum shyly retreated out of the way.  Frisk ran by it to the staircase and unlocked the chain's.  They dropped to the floor with a loud clang.  The child rushed down the first few steps and almost tripped on a couple Moldsmols.

            "Over time, Asriel and the human became like siblings.  The King and Queen treated the human child as their own.  The underground was full of hope," said one.

            "Why are you telling me this?" Frisk asked them.

            "This is the tragic tale of our people," the other replied.  "We were told to gather and tell you."  They slid out of the way to let Frisk continue.  He passed them.  This must be the story Undyne was going to share before.  Frisk wasn't sure he wanted to hear this right now but he was curious about it.  The human entered a tunnel below the house and slowed when he looked ahead.  Monsters of all kinds had gathered along his path.  Some monsters he recognized, some he didn't.  Some of their kinds he had killed, others he hadn't.  Frisk took a deep breath and reluctantly continued.

            "Then one day . . . the human became very ill," said a bug creature as Frisk passed.

            The human glanced at a group of Vegatoids that peered back with sadness in their eyes.  "The sick human only had one request . . . to see the flowers from her village . . . but there was nothing we could do," they said.  Frisk increased his pace a little.  The path ahead was long and he wanted to get through the area quickly.

            "The next day . . . the next day . . ." said the monsters as he went.  "The human died.  Asriel, wracked with grief, absorbed the human's soul.  He transformed into a being with incredible power."  Frisk kept walking, his eyes focused on the path ahead.  Now he knew who that monster was in the illustration he had seen in Waterfall.

            "With the human soul, Asriel crossed through the barrier," said an Icecap to Frisk's right.  Frisk glanced at them as he passed by.  "He carried the human's body into the sunset . . . back to the village of the humans."  Frisk looked ahead, ignoring the gathering monsters around him as he tried to press on.  But he let their voices reach him and listened to their story.

           "Asriel reached the center of the village.  There, he found a bed of Golden Flowers.  He carried the human onto it."  Frisk stepped out of the tunnel and gasped at the sight before him.  Both sides of the street were lined with monsters of every kind, waiting to tell him this story.  Someone must have set this up.  But he had no idea who.  He kept going and listened as he walked.

            "Suddenly, screams rang out in the village.  The villagers had seen Asriel holding the human's body.  They thought that he had killed the child.  So the humans attacked him with everything they had.  He was struck with blow after blow."  Frisk lowered his head a little, holding back tears.  This was the history of his village too . . . his home.  The monsters continued.  "Asriel had the power to destroy them all . . . but . . . Asriel did not fight back.  Clutching the human . . . Asriel smiled, and walked away."

            Frisk lifted his head, tears in his eyes.  He sniffled and moved faster down the street.  "Wounded, Asriel stumbled home.  He entered the castle and collapsed.  His dust spread across the garden."  Frisk gritted his teeth, trying to control his feelings, but it was only getting harder  "The kingdom fell into despair," the monsters continued.  "The King and Queen had lost two children in one night.  The humans had once again taken everything from us."

            Frisk narrowed his eyes and moved even faster.  "The king decided it was time to end our suffering.  Every human who falls down here must die.  With enough souls, we can shatter the barrier forever.  It's not long now."  Frisk shook his head.  He couldn't hide what he felt and finally bolted down the long street as tears blurred his vision.  The monsters spoke in unison as he ran.  "King Asgore will let us go!  King Asgore will give us hope!  King Asgore will save us all!"  Frisk ran several more meters as the monsters repeated themselves.  And finally running out of breath, he panted and slowed.  The monsters fell silent.  Frisk was nearing the castle.

            "You should be smiling too," said one of the monsters.  "Aren't you excited?  Aren't you happy?"  Frisk refused to look at the creature as he passed.  He neared the end of the street and stopped when a single Froggit hopped into his path.

            "You're going to be free," it croaked.

            Frisk sniffled and glanced down at the frog.  "You . . . don't even know what I am."  He stepped around the Froggit and ran for the open gate ahead.  He had to get off the street and out of sight.  All those innocent eyes on him was a pressure he couldn’t take any longer.

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Full Chapter List

[chemicalcindercat]

Frisk freed the monsters from the underground, completing a true-pacifist run. She was living happily on the surface with her monster family. Everything was perfect. Until it wasn't. When Frisk gets hit by a car on her way over to Sans house, everything changes. Not only does Frisk forget herself, her friends, and all of her adventures in the Underground, but something else has changed. Frisk glitches the Multiverse.

Chapter Summary: Frisk finally gets to go home! ...Turns out normal life isn’t quite as easy as she expected.

Chapters (8/?): 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8

Fandom: Undertale

Rating: T (For violence and hints of adult themes)

Relationships: Sans x Frisk, Underfell Sans x Frisk, Underswap Papyrus x Chara, Slight Underswap Sans x Frisk

Additional Tags: Amnesia, Lost memories, Hurt/Comfort, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, ...Have I mentioned there is Hurt/Comfort?, Hurt, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Goat Mom is best mom (Undertale), King Fluffy-Buns - Freeform, Sad Asgore (Undertale), Female Frisk (Undertale), Aged up Frisk (Undertale), Like duh she’s an adult i’m not a pedo, gross, Verbal Frisk, Frisk has a voice in her head, Sans is a depressed bean, Papyrus is so innocent, Frisk glitched the multiverse, oh whoops, spoiler alert, more tags will be added as we progress

Frisk was confused, to say the least.

It had only been 4 days, but to Frisk she was stuck in the hospital for an eternity. She was bombarded by everyone who cared enough about her to visit her in the hospital, which was basically the whole town (or at least, it felt like it to Frisk). Monsters of all kinds came to see her, claiming she was their "savior". Was she supposed to know them? Whenever she tried to remember anything, her mind was completely blank, apart from the headache she got from trying too hard. To her, it was as if nothing had happened before her "accident". As if she just woke up in the hospital and that was that. If it wasn't for the people visiting her, it would've been as if she hadn't even existed before then.

It took the poor girl a while to adjust. For one thing, there were a lot of new faces. Toriel and Asgore, her adopted parents, seemed pretty nice. They visited her every single day. The taller skeleton, Papyrus, enjoyed bringing her homemade food, and even though it wasn't the best, she smiled and choked it down regardless. (Besides, it wasn't any worse than hospital food. At this point Frisk was practically living off of the pies Toriel brought her.) Undyne and Alphys brought her the first five seasons of Mew Mew: Kissy Cutie, so that once the sixth season started airing, she could go to their house and watch it with them. These five were the ones who came to visit Frisk the most frequently. Countless other monsters had stopped by, but none of them quite enough for her to remember their names. Other than that, Flowey stayed in the hospital room with her at all times, pretending to be a regular flower if any nurses or doctors were in the room. He was grumpy, and a bit rude, but Frisk got the impression that he genuinely cared for her.

On the other hand, The whole She-Freed-The-Monsters-From-The-Underground-And-They-Were-Free-To-Live-On-The-Surface-Now-Thing was terribly confusing to Frisk. It was weird to her that everyone was so thankful to her. Even though she freed them, she didn't remember it, and when you suddenly wake up in a hospital bed, with no memories, the last thing you expect is for you to be someone's savior.

Another thing that made no sense to Frisk was Sans. She hadn't seen him since he found out that she lost her memories; He hadn't come to visit her at all since then. It didn't matter that much, though, because he was probably just busy, and four days isn't a long time to not visit someone.

Still, she couldn't forget the way he looked at her, when she announced she had amnesia… But regardless, she obviously had a family who loved her and cared about her, and even though she was sure there were so many memories she was missing about each person, Frisk was just happy she wasn't alone in this.

~~~

The first time Frisk had gotten a good glimpse of herself in the mirror was on her third day in the hospital. She wasn't sure what she had expected, but what greeted her certainly wasn't it. Sure, she knew she had brown hair from the tips of her locks she caught every now and then, but she didn't realise just how brown it was. And her big brown eyes were adorable. Frisk loved it, and she couldn't wait to see what she would look like after she got home and brushed her hair so it wasn't so tangled.

Home. Where exactly was that? She knew she lived with Toriel (from what Flowey had said the first day), but she was a little nervous to see the place.

The next day, that was exactly what she was about to do. Frisk's doctor had finally let her out after four long and exhausting days. Putting her on bed rest, he instructed she take it extremely easy, getting as much rest as possible. With that, she was being led out of her room, just barely having enough time to grab Flowey and his pot, before she was brought down the stairs and out the front doors…

....And right into the sun.

The sun, the grass, the blue, blue sky. It was all so....beautiful! Indescribably so! All she could manage was a small "Wow," receiving a grunt from Flowey. A light breeze ruffled Frisk's messy hair, swirling around some fallen cherry blossom petals. Cherry blossom trees! Oh, they were magnificent! And to think they had been right here all along. If she had looked out her window in the hospital room, she could've seen them, but she was almost happy she didn't. It made the moment that much more special. Frisk had a strange, happy feeling. This felt so familiar, and yet she couldn't recall being here before. Thinking it was just her amnesia, she shrugged it off. Toriel and Asgore waited over by a car, waving over their child(ren). When Frisk came over, Asgore couldn't stop himself from pulling Frisk into a giant bear hug. She grunted, almost dropping Flowey. It made her a little uncomfortable, but she was willing to put up with it more for Asgore's sake than for hers.

"Asgore," Toriel scolded in a weird tone. "Be careful. You don't want to scare her away when she must feel very lost and confused."

Asgore pulled away from Frisk almost immediately. "I'm so sorry! I hope I wasn't overstepping my boundaries!" He apologized. Toriel and Asgore exchanged looks of sadness and worry.

"No, you didn't do anything wrong!" Frisk exclaimed. "I… I'm so sorry…"

"We know you don't remember us, and we know it's not your fault at all! Please, don't think this is your fault, my child!" Toriel said. "Because it absolutely isn't. We just....it was so painful, having Sans show up in the kitchen holding you. You just...looked so broken! And when we got to the hospital, it felt like years passed before you woke up. We didn't know what was going to happen." Toriel's eyes started to water. "We hate how much it must hurt for you to not be able to remember anything, but we are just so, so happy that nothing worse happened! For all we knew, we c-could've lost you!"

Frisk felt bad. She wasn't the only one suffering from this. She wondered what exactly happened for her to end up like this. The doctor told her she was hit by a car, but how did that happen? Was she really that careless, or was the driver not paying attention?

Now that Frisk thought about it, Toriel said Sans had showed up in the kitchen with her. How did he find her? How did Sans know she was hit, or know that something had gone wrong and she had been hurt? Frisk had a feeling there was way more to that skeleton than he let on, and she would get straight down to the bottom of it. She just needed to figure out one question: Who was Sans the skeleton to her?

~~~

After three days of doing nothing but sitting around watching anime, the only way Frisk could convince Toriel to let her go to school was if she was in a wheelchair, and brought Flowey with her. It wasn't that Frisk couldn't walk; She was perfectly fine besides her amnesia. It was just that Toriel was taking the doctor's orders of "bed rest" very seriously. And that was how after being awake for only a week, Frisk was off to school in a wheelchair, carrying a flower pot.

At school, her best friend Monster Kid (seriously, how many 'best friends' did Frisk have?) was really worried about her.

"What happened, are you alright? Why are you in a wheelchair, can you not walk anymore? I'm so sorry I couldn't come to visit you in the hospital, my parents wouldn't let me. They said I had too much homework to do."

"It's alright," Frisk said, smiling softly. "But there is something you should know…"

When her teacher had announced to the class about Frisk's accident, and how she had amnesia, nobody was more shocked than Monster Kid. Yet he still helped her around (by pushing her wheelchair with his face), introduced her to people, helped her with her classwork, and played it off like a joke.

"Wow, Frisk, you really managed to get yourself into trouble this time, huh?" He laughed, despite the fact that he was wheeling her to the cafeteria by pushing her wheelchair with his face. She just giggled and smiled, nodding her head.

Lunchtime was a nightmare. Everyone wanted to introduce themselves to Frisk, and explain stuff to her.

"...And then I came here to school today." Frisk said, having just been asked to tell her story again for the 15th time.

"So are your legs really broken?" Asked a small turtle monster, having not really paid attention to the story.

Wow, people really don't listen, huh? Asked the voice in Frisk's head. Frisk chose to ignore it, instead simply explaining that no, she had not broken her legs, she just hit her head and was told to take it easy. Suddenly everyone started crowding Frisk, all asking questions at the same time, most of which she had already answered. She tried her best to answer as many as she could, but she was getting very overwhelmed, and her headache was returning. Flowey must've noticed, because one moment he was scowling at everyone, and the next he had vines up in the air, making himself look bigger than he was, and hissing at all of the school kids.

And that was how one little flower managed to empty an entire cafeteria, except for Frisk and Monster Kid, in less than 30 seconds.

Remind me not to get on his bad side, Frisk asked the voice in her head.

Noted.

[hoodie-lover]

My Multiverse Part 59

Five years later…

Dream walked down the Doodlesphere with Blue and Error by his side. Nightmare said he would meet them at the AU. 

“You sure this is going to be easy?” Blue asked, his voice glitching a bit more than it normally does, a sign of worry they soon learned. 

“Nope! But this job has never been easy!” Dream said and Error smiled as they approached the AU and entered. 

“Wow. They really did a number on this place.” Blue said when he saw the AU. 

The AU was dark and musty. Dread and fear was built into the AU. The snow falling down in front of the ruins door, colored a faded pink, was icey and sent shivers down their spines. 

“You know what we have to do. Help the innocent, remove corruption, and offer them a place in the multiverse along with therapy.” Dream said and the two nodded as they explored the AU. 

The forest was devoid of traps, not a good sign. Snowdin was empty, another bad sign. 

“So, what are we looking for?” Error asked, running his hands over the snow.

“A person. From what I could hear, within the snickers and laughter of the creators, this AU’s Flowey rules the AU with an iron fist, or vine.” Dream said and the two shuddered as they were picked up and pinned. 

“Let us go!” Dream screamed and a deep and sickening laugh caught Dream off guard. 

“Alright.” Nightmare said and he let them down against the snow and laughed as he saw Dream’s angry face. 

“Not funny!” Dream said, shaking from either the cold or shock, probably both. 

“Sure.” Nightmare said, rolling his eye with a smug grin on his face. 

“Um, guys? We need to get moving!” Error said as he held up a pile of snow, which was mostly, dust. 

“Yeah. We sure do. What did you find out Nightmare?” Blue asked as the team sped off. 

“Flowey rules the world and people are hunted for fun, though this world’s Sans and Papyrus are his special toys that he tortures.” Nightmare said, and he pulled out some black cloaks for everyone to wear, and they donned them quickly.

“Blue, can you and Error go search for people hiding?” Dream asked and the two nodded as they sped off. 

“So, what do you expect from this AU?” He asked, and Nightmare shuddered. 

“Probably something along the lines of those angst AUs.” Nightmare said as they got off the ground and began to move among the stalgatities hanging from the ceiling, besto to avoid Flowey’s roots. 

When the two got to New Home, it was a jungle. Plants and debris were everywhere, and every single piece of flora was an enemy. It wasn’t the most dangerous mission they had been on, but it was far from the easiest. 

Dream grabbed one of Nightmare’s tentacles and was launched across the city, landing on the roof of the throne room. His brother followed and they slowly lowered themselves into the throne room. It was pretty much a green bowl made of vines with a dirt circle in the center. 

“Alright. We need to get to the best place to work as a dungeon.” Dream said. “No one’s here.” He said as Dream was lifted up. 

“I’ll go over to the lab. We passed it on our way here, you stay here and watch out for the weed.” Dream said and Nightmare gave him a suspicious look. 

“If I find the Sans and Papyrus they will panic, I can calm them down and I can take care of myself. But if you patrol and find Flowey, fight him. Keep him busy.” Dream whispered and Dream went off.

When he got to the lab, it took some maneuvering to avoid stepping on the vines, but he was able to get down into the lab and quickly explored the barren and dusty lab. 

“Hello? Is anyone there?” Dream whispered, when he heard no response he continued down the hallway and saw two makeshift cells. With the Sans and Papyrus of the universe inside of them. 

“Who are you?” Sans asked, and upon closer inspection he was the only one without his jaw broken. 

“A friend. I’m here to rescue you.” Dream said and Sans’ eyes lit up with joy.  

“Thank you!” Sans exclaimed as he gripped the plant-like bars of his cell.

“Don’t thank me. It’s my job.” Dream said and he used an arrow to slice the bars and set the two free. 

They stumbled and tripped, and overall had a hard time walking. Dream was patient, from their physical condition, broken bones, bruises, and dents in the skull, and clear scars where possibly deadly fractures were, Dream was understanding. 

“Well, well, well, it seems I have multiple intruders on my hand!” Flowey said as he popped from the ground in front of them. 

“Let us leave Flowey.” Dream said, summoning his bow.

“Nope!” Flowey said giggling as the Sans and Papyrus cowered behind Dream. 

“Please let me have my toys back, you don’t end up like your other intruder do you?” He asked, giving an innocent frown as he cackled. 

“Let us leave.” Dream said, unphased by Flowey's threat.

“Aww~. Did you not hear me?” Flowey said and Dream laughed as his eyes gleamed with confidence. 

“Look behind you.” Dream said, and Nightmare smiled, followed by Error and Blue. 

“Oh sh-” Flowey said and was dead before the swear left his mouth. 

Dream led the Sans and Papyrus to a portal set up to the omega timeline, Core Frisk was berated for not interfering but they barely managed to get out of it by stating they knew what would happen before it did. So they saw no need to interfere, though it was not with a light heart they stayed out of the situation. 

“The people there will explain everything to you.” Dream said as he led the people out of there and Error was ready to destroy the AU. Taking the already isolated Frisk soul with him. It was a miracle they were able to give the souls physical bodies and give them a proper home in the omega timeline, or their own if it was inhabitable. 

Classic had woken up and yawned, he hadn’t been woken up. It was weird, Papyrus usually woke him up. Though Classic suddenly remembered the last run, a genocide run. He got up and ran to Papyrus’ room, and there was his brother, sitting on his bed and curled up. 

“Heya bro. You ok?” Sans asked as he sat next him, only to be caught in a large hug. 

“I don’t think I will ever get used to getting killed.” Papyrus said and Sans sighed as he hugged him back. 

“I haven’t either.” Sans said and he called Undyne.

“Hey Sans. You ok?” Undyne said and Sans gave a stumbling ‘yeah.’

“Paps is having a hard time. How are you doing?” Sans asked and Papyrus began to listen in as he put Undyne on speaker. “You’re on speaker and Paps is here.” Sans said.

“I-I still have no idea how you deal with that Sans.” Undyne said, her voice lacked the passion and life she was known for. 

“I gave up trying a long time ago. But you guys, have people to confide in. Don’t give up trying. Please, don’t do what I did.” Sans said, and Undyne gave a resounding ‘Hell yeah!’ and Papyrus promised he would never give up, that he’d always keep trying. It made Sans feel happy, and he felt safe. Truly safe, safe like he had never been before. 

Later that day, he and everyone, even Toriel and Flowey, came together and talked about what happened, a group therapy session of sorts. 

“So, Asgore, Flowey, how far did they get, I know they killed me, but what about you?” Sans asked, and they sighed. 

“They spared me.” Flowey said, Asgore hanging his head. 

“I was killed by Flowey.” he said, glaring at the flower. 

“Either that or they get unleashed upon humanity, your choice.” Flowey shrugged, “And I doubt you want to share a headspare with that murderous brat.” He said, sneering and shuddering at the memory.

 “So, Chara isn’t a problem, yet. Or maybe they like teasing us, and will one day just pop up with the demon.” Sans said, but he quickly regretted his words when he realized who he was talking about and in front of who. 

“I’m sorry. But, you have to understand, they’re, not going to...” Sans tried to say but Toriel stopped him. 

“It’s ok Sans.” Toriel said, and Asgore kept silent. 

They talked about the timeline and what they did, and Sans explained all the routes once again, though he left a few details out. Sans didn’t want to give anyone the crisis of morality he had a long time ago. 

In the creator realm, everyone was bustling around and talking. The place was alive with papers scattered on the floor, pencils everywhere, and creators eager to show off what they made. 

“This place is busier than ever. What happened?” Maxie asked when she sat next to Zack and Beatrice at the newly built food court. 

“Someone made an occult, HorrorTale, Sansisk AU and from what I’ve seen, you should check it out.” Zack said, sipping a coffee. 

“Sounds interesting. Is the Sans sympathetic or a maniac?” Beatrice asked, she was eating a donut based on Muffet’s spider pastries. 

“A puppy people like to kick when it’s already down.” Zack said and Maxie gasped. 

“Well I hope the Star Sanses get to save him. You know I don’t like too much torture, when you’ve seen one you’ve seen them all.” Maxie said as she looked at the rack of candy next to her. 

“Me too. But you know the rules: Based on the contents and complexity of the universe, a time limit is placed on how long the Star Sanses will wait until they are allowed to rescue the inhabitants of the AU. It was the first agreement we ever made and it works well so far. And we can always go back to what it once was, just no more updates.” Zack said, and Jana came walking over. 

“Hey. So, Underoccult sounding good? You guys really should check it out.” Jana said and Zack sighed. 

“Sure. I was just recommending it.” Zack said, taking a long sip of coffee as he glared at her. 

“Oh please. I’m enjoying this just as much as you are. Honestly, you need to lighten up.” Beatrice said, resting her elbows on the back of Zack’s chair. 

“Yeah.” Zack, groaning when Jack came over. 

“Can we stop talking about Underoccult? I found an angsty AU with Papyrus and Frisk as the main couple.” Jack said, and Maxie was intrigued. 

“Rare pair. I like it.” Maxie said, smiling as she grabbed a bag of gummy bears and paid for them and dove into the delicious candy goodness. 

“Anyway, how is your AU going?” Maxie asked, looking at Beatrice and Jana. 

“Decent. The time limit is almost up, but I’m excited to see how they interact with the rest of the multiverse.” Jana said and Beatrice nodded as she stuffed her mouth with sugary donut goodness. 

Dream was calling the Star Sanses to a meeting to tell them about how his mission went, and to learn how their own missions went. When everyone came to the Doodlesphere, the atmosphere was still lighter and brighter than when Ink had run this place, even five years later. 

“So, I assume we had success across the board?” Dream said and was met with several resounding cheers. “So, how did it go?” Dream asked and they went in order, some people and the Dark Sanses compared it to a sharing circle thing from kindergarten but it was fun and everyone liked it.  

“There was a guy who thought he could chain me up, he’s dust now.” Red said, and Black laughed.

“I encountered a whore, and she tried to grab my spine,” Black gestured to his exposed lower spine, “and it turned out she was the target. It was fun to watch her blood spill from her chest wound.” He said and only Red laughed, everyone was quiet and looking at Dream. 

“Thanks. Anyone else have any ideas what the creators might be up to in terms of what you’ve encountered during your missions?” Dream said, looking around. 

“There’s been more, Sans and Frisk shipping, along with more angst.” Geno said, and murmurs of agreement filled the room. 

Dream managed to get notes on everyone’s missions and the trends they’re seeing. It would be useful information for Nightmare, but for now, he could relax. The meeting then became a meme fest and when Blue dropped in a box of beer, Dream decided to leave, he had the worst tolerance and everyone knew it, it was only a matter of time before they poured it down his throat. 

Dream opened a portal and dropped off his notes on Nightmare’s desk, his brother drowning in papers. 

“You need help?” Dream asked and Nightmare glared at him, as if he had just insulted him in every way imaginable.  

“Fine, fine. You struggle with your Everest of papers while I hide from the rest of the Star Sanses.” Dream said but was caught with a tentacle. 

“Why?” Nightmare asked, grinning evilly. 

“Blue brought beer.” Dream said and Nightmare laughed. 

“You are going there and I will request a video of your stupid drunk ass.” Nightmare said and threw Dream in a portal.

“Traitor!” Drea screamed and everyone looked at Nightmare, ready for a fight. 

“Get me a video of him drunk. I need one. Sibling code.” Nightmare said as the portal closed, and Blue grabbed Dream’s shoulders and chuckled as his left eye glowed brightly. 

“B-Blue, we’re friends right? You wouldn’t hand over my dignity to-” Dream said and had a bottle of beer slammed against his mouth. 

  It was only there for a few moments and when Blue ripped it free, Dream fell onto his back and was motionless for a few moments. 

“Just wait a while. He’ll be running around like a toddler on a pound of pixie sticks in a while.” Blue said and he kissed Red on the cheek. 

“Devilish cutie.” Red whispered and returned the kiss. 

“Be quiet. I don’t want them to know!” Blue said as he was picked up and taken across the room as Black put some loud music on. 

Blue met Red’s arrogant gaze with his own as Red danced with Blue on the meeting table, taking a swig of the booze Blue brought while he was at it. 

“May I have this dance?” Alt asked Sci and the flustered skeleton hesitantly agreed and was thrown on the table as Alt led the dance and never slowed down. 

“So, how’s everything on your side?” Sci asked as everyone began to drink and dance to the music. 

“Decent. No one’s going on rampages anymore. And Error’s been calmer than he usually is.” Alt said as he dipped Sci and kissed him. 

“How come you can dip me when you’re two feet shorter than me?” Sci asked and Alt had a simple reply. 

“Creativity.” Alt said and Sci laughed. 

The Dark Sanses were hanging out like usual, playing video games and cooking when Nightmare came down. 

“So, how’s Dream?” Killer asked and Nightmare chuckled. 

“Blue brought booze.” Nightmare said and every howled. 

“Well, it seems we’ve got some entertainment tonight!” Dust said as he beat Fresh in their video game. 

“Yeah. What do you want for lunch?” Horror asked and everyone gave their answers. Meat for himself, something exotic for Killer, Dust wanted something mild, Fresh wanted a mix of flavors, Error was content with chocolate, Cross wanted chocolate as well, and Nightmare would scavenge off whatever was prepared. 

“Alright!” Horror said as he rummaged through the fridge. 

Error was standing outside the castle and looking out at the AU. He took in a deep breath and looked at his family, they were laughing, playing, and were able to seek professional help for what they went through, along with Dream who was a big help, and the world was at peace. 

He was free to do as he pleased, within reason, and could interact with people aside from his family without being beaten or ran away from in terror. It was a good feeling, something he hadn’t felt in a long time. 

“Hey Error.” Nightmare said as he stood next to him. 

“Hey Dad.” Error said and Nightmare wrapped his arm around Error. 

“Any plans for the day?” Nightmare asked and Error shrugged. 

“Nope. You?” Error asked and Nightmare gave him a confident smirk. 

“I have some ideas, but there was something I did find.” Nightmare said as he handed Error a piece of paper. 

“What’s this?” Error asked as he opened it up and gasped. 

“You, how?” He asked when he saw what it was. A crappy investigation of who Error could have been, done by Ink. 

“I found it when he ransacked his cottage soon after his defeat. I’ve been looking into it for so long, and I finally managed to get a lead. Something we can follow.” Nightmare said, smiling. 

“You’ve narrowed it down to an alternate timeline?” Error said, about to cry. 

“Yeah. Ink suspected Geno, but he couldn’t find anything after that and gave up. But when he looked at Blue’s code, only the non-glitched parts pointed to himself. So what do you say, wanna solve this mystery once and for all?” nightmare said and Error hugged him as he screamed at the top of his hypothetical lungs. 

“YES!” Error said as Horror called them in for lunch, it wasn’t done, but the chocolate was ready and Cross was getting antsy. 

“We’ll be there soon.” Nightmare said and Error cried tears of joy. 

“Wanna tell them?” Error asked and Nightmare shrugged. 

“If you want to.” Nightmare said as the two walked back into the castle. 

Characters belong to their respective owners

First

[yastaghr]

Our Skeleton 36 - Machine and Machinations

Summary: Sans, Papyrus, and Alphys work on a machine to help everyone remember when Frisk has to LOAD. Everyone else works up a plan of action to use against the parent-creatures.

Warnings: Real World Issues

Link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7563223/chapters/60380821

“everything is temporary, everything will slide! love will never die, die, die. i know that ooh~ birds fly in diff-”

Sans’ distracted half-mumbling, half-singing was interrupted by the creak of the basement door. He looked up from the machine he was actively working on and smiled a truly lazy smile at the monsters walking down the stairs. Alphys and Papyrus were coming down the steps with milk crates full of scraps in their arms. Alphys had one crate of electronic components. Papyrus had three full of scrap metal and bits of wiring. Sans quickly lept over and took the wobbling crate on the top of the stack out of his brother’s arms and carried it over to the lab bench.

“thanks, guys,” Sans chuckled, “it’d take me hours to find all this stuff. it’s been a while since i did any tinkering, so i’ve got no idea where the dump is up here. i’m nowhere near as good at machines as you are, alph, but i thought i’d give this a shot.”

Alphys set her loaded box on the table next to the one Sans had set there and shoved her glasses up the bridge of her nose with her finger. “I d-d-don’t know if I would say that, S-s-sans. your ideas for the heating coils in the hot fridge were genius! I, um, would never have thought about running electricity through ionized air like that.”

Sans blew out a huff of air. It wasn’t a sigh; it was more like an expression of fond exasperation.

“i didn’t come up with that one, alph, the humans did. i…”

He hesitated. How exactly did he learn about that? He couldn’t remember ever actually reading about it. He could vaguely recall someone telling him about it, someone tall that he looked up to, even if they were eccentric. He usually had a pretty good memory, but this one was slipping away from him. Apparently his memory wasn’t good enough to transcend timelines. That had hurt a little bit to learn, especially when he found out that the plant could remember where he couldn’t. It was hardly going to stroke someone’s ego to find out a plant had a better memory than they did… What was he thinking about again?

Sans blinked at the two monsters who were blinking back at him. He was pretty sure that, by the expressions on their faces, Alphys and Papyrus had no idea what he was talking about, either.

“uh… sorry about that. i’ll just get back to my project.”

Alphys’ face flushed with an expression Sans could only name as bravery and determination. She stepped forward and said, “I-I-I’m going to help, Sans. I want to be able to remember when Frisk LOADs, too. That’s what your machine is for, um, right? To help everyone remember?”

Sans nodded, too surprised to respond properly. How had she known that?

“I’LL HELP, TOO! I, THE GREAT PAPYRUS, HAVE SPENT ENOUGH TIME WORKING ON THE PUZZLES IN SNOWDIN TO BE OF GREAT USE!”

Sans looked between the two of them until he got dizzy. Then he shook the cobwebs out of his head. If they wanted to help that was fine by him! “go ahead, guys. paps, do you think you can take apart the scrap with me? i can’t- no, we can’t do anything until we have more parts. and alph, maybe you can take a look at my code? i keep getting a stack overflow error that i can’t track down. there has to be an infinite loop somewhere, i just can’t find it.”

Both Alphys and Papyrus nodded their heads and grabbed the right tools for their respective jobs. Sans smiled. This machine was going to be finished in a snap!

=====

The living room was full of silence as the council of war got underway. Toriel and Asgore were sitting on either side of Frisk on the couch. Flowey was leaning in a window on the wall to their right. Undyne was pacing back and forth in front of the fireplace, her boots squeaking as she did so. Gerson was sitting in one of the overstuffed chairs that flanked the couch and faced the fireplace. Finally, Grillby was leaning against the other chair. His arms were crossed and his face was unreadable.

Grillby was the first person to break the silence. “..... We must do something about….. those awful people. They have done….. too much to hurt my boys and as….. Frisk has said, they are not above killing others. What should….. we do?”

Toriel broke the thoughtful quiet that followed his words. “The police would be the best option, would they not? They are trained and paid to do this kind of work.”

“NO!” Two voices and one set of arms objected. Frisk had signed as emphatically as they could. Asgore looked absolutely horrified, and Grillby was resigned. Toriel tilted her head in confusion, and Asgore answered her with an explanation.

“The police are not very nice, Toriel. They are one of the biggest groups of anti-monster people around. They are also very… bribeable. The parents of our datemate and his brother are quite rich. They would easily be able to pay their way out of this. The police would be more likely to arrest us than them.”

Frisk nodded vigorously and signed, [There’s a reason I made sure no monster joined the force. They hurt Undyne really bad a few times before I figured out it was them. That’s the reason her arm doesn’t go above her head anymore. They pulled it out of its socket completely.]

Toriel looked shocked. She protested, “But, they are supposed to protect and serve!”

Grillby shook his head. “..... There is nothing in their oaths about that. They….. are supposed to enforce the laws and….. protect the ruling class. They are notorious for….. bending the truth and attacking minorities like us….. humans of color….. and disabled people of every sort.”

Toriel’s face grew a layer of determination that had Frisk worrying about her health. Monsters weren’t really built to handle it… but, then again, Toriel was a Boss Monster. Maybe the rules were different for them. She said firmly, “Fine then, no police. But when we do go after them, none of us are going alone. And neither of the boys must be involved.”

Gerson agreed, “That’d be a bad idea. Who knows what they would do if they got their hands on them? And Frisk already said that they attack us if we go on our own.”

Frisk nodded. [It took me 19 LOADs to realise it wouldn’t work. I don’t want to do any more.]

Asgore, Toriel, and Grillby all shuddered as they thought about how much pain that must have caused Frisk. The others nodded in agreement. Flowey said, “I doubt we’ll get away with this without a few more, Frisk. But there’s definitely a few tricks that can make you have to do less. For one thing, you need to avoid a fight screen. They’re both crazy powerful and they cheat, just like Sans. They also aren’t above using attack magic outside of a fight screen, so be ready for that. Finally, don’t go after them together. They’re way more powerful as a team.]

Undyne narrowed her one eye. “You seem to know an awful lot about them for someone I’ve never met before, flower.”

Flowey shrugged. “I had the power to LOAD and RESET long before Frisk did. I’ve done everything under the sun in the name of boredom. Frisk is a goody two shoes by comparison. They hardly killed anyone their first time, and they didn’t kill anyone at all in this timeline. Not even Jerry.”

Undyne frowned. “Don’t think you’ll get away with saying that because of this, but you’re right. It’s always better to divide your enemies’ forces. It’s just good tactics.”

Toriel nodded. “Then it is decided. No police, no going alone, and divide them up to make them weaker. Now, how will we accomplish this? Should we split into two teams and go after them at the same time, or should we concentrate our forces on one or the other?”

Gerson coughed and motioned to Flowey. “If the plant’s right about their power then I’d say we go after one at a time. That way there are more people to back each other up in a fight.”

Frisk signed, [Roman spends most of his time at the house, so we should go after him there. The only problem is the servants. They’ll probably side with Roman. After all, he’s the one who’s paying them.”

A devious smile crossed Undyne’s face. “Not if someone else doesn’t pay them more. I bet they only put up with those parent creatures because of the money. We could send them an offer to work for better wages somewhere else.”

Asgore frowned. “But who could we convince to pay them like that? Normally it takes quite a while for a servant to be hired. There are interviews and paperwork galore!”

Undyne’s smile only grew. “The university, of course. They’re putting together a training college for home aids. I’m sure they’d love to get all of their positions filled by people who have actually worked in the industry. And if you suggest it, I’m doubly sure they’ll be on board.”

Toriel nodded while Asgore sat there, stunned. “That is a most agreeable plan. We’ll make the appropriate calls as soon as we decide what to do about Coursiva.”

Grillby spoke up. “Perhaps we can….. go and retrieve her from her….. workplace. What is it she does again?”

Flowey answered, “She works for one of those think tank places. It’s one of the ones that goes after disabled people, especially autistic people. She hates them so much it’s ridiculous. That think tank is behind the stupid fad for not vaccinating your children. There’s a reason those things exist!”

Everyone in the room nodded. That whole idea tree was stupid as heck.

“Then, the plan is this: We go after Roman in his home while his wife is at work, then we track down Coursiva at her workplace and bring both to the Embassy for… further investigation. If we can prove that they have done what we think they have done then we can banish them to the Underground, can we not? That seems like a fitting punishment to me,” Toriel said decisively.

Gerson nodded. “We can put them in room 3b. That’s the most secure room in the Embassy. I’d challenge anyone to break out of that.”

Asgore, Undyne, and Frisk all nodded. They knew the room in question. Toriel, who was less familiar with the Embassy, asked, “We should test that, should we not? I do not want either of them to escape. Who knows what they would do once they are aware that their cover is blown?”

[keelywolfe]

FIC: Terms of Engagement ch.2

Summary: Rus is still a kid himself and with his life turned upside-down, he has no idea how he’s going to take care of his baby brother. Having other kid skeletons appear in his world wasn’t exactly the help he was looking for.

Tags: Pre-Spicyhoney, Underfell Papyrus, Underfell Sans, Underswap Papyrus, Underswap Sans, Undertale Sans, Undertale Papyrus, Babybones, Scientist W. D. Gaster, Skellie Daycare, Growing Up Together, Big Brothers Caring For Their Little Bros, Fluff, Hurt/Comfort

Notes: I sort of desperately needed a little more of the Adventures In Skellie Daycare. Enjoy!

Chapter One 

Read Chapter Two on AO3

or

Read It Here!

~~*~~

A Couple of Years Later

Rus sighed tiredly, settling back into his heap of cushions and blankets that were piled into the corner of his room. Someday he was gonna have an actual bed, but until then, this worked.

Besides, he wasn’t entirely sure a larger bed would fit. His room was crammed to the brim with all kinds of stuff, stacks of books and scattered broken electronics that he was trying to fix, knickknacks of all kinds scrounged from the dump and clothes draped over whatever was the least dirty. Not like he had a closet, and anyway, he didn’t own much in the way of a wardrobe. A coupla striped shirts and a pair of shorts worked for him.

His old, shorter mattress was in Blue’s room now, handed down a while back when Rus started waking up every morning hanging off it from the knees down. Still worked pretty well for Blue, at least. True to his suspicions, his little bro was firmly in the pint-size brigade. Blue was kinda disappointed about it, but it was fine as far as Rus was concerned. Made it a hell of a lot easier to find him clothes, for one, Sans and Red were always struggling to keep up with their little bro’s growth spurts.

Speaking of which, he should really be trying to get some sleep. Tomorrow was his day to watch all the baby bones. He needed to be on his toes to keep Blue and Papyrus out of trouble, because if it was out there, those two would find it. Rus couldn’t be mad at them for it; neither of ‘em meant to run the older skellies ragged, but damn if they weren’t experts at it, little balls of energy.

He could’ve cried the day he stepped out for one minute and came back to find the two of them ‘cooking’, which to them meant dumping all their carefully stored supplies into a large bowl to make a sort of vile pudding. It’d been edible, at least, in the loosest sense of the word, and Rus wasn’t about to waste all that food. A few days of having to choke down Kitchen Sink Stew for lunch had been a pretty memorable punishment and they’d been cured of any urges to try more cooking for themselves, for now.

So yeah, sleep would be a good idea. The problem was, Rus’s mind didn’t seem to agree. It was wandering all over the place, thinking about his last day spent dump picking, mentally calculating the amount of G he had saved and if it’d be enough, even poking at his scattered memories of Before, the ones that were so foggy to him, but still itched somehow, like a scab of marrow over a painful scratch.

With a sigh, he clicked on the little desk lap he’d scrounged from one of the upstairs rooms. A little reading usually helped settle him and there were plenty of books, the lab was filled with ‘em. They were fascinating to him, loaded with theorems and equations. A shame no one else seemed to think so; he’d tried selling some of them early on and not even the Floweys had been interested.

He was barely into his second page when he heard the pitter patter of little bony feet. Rus sighed, fully expecting a little brother to turn the corner and begin fierce negotiations for another glass of water or one more bedtime story.

What he didn’t expect to see peering through the crack of his open door were wide sockets with crimson eye lights, peeking hesitantly inside.

“Edge?” Rus called warily. Not that he really expected it to be anyone else, but it paid to be cautious. He hadn’t exactly been expecting Red or Sans to land in this world either.

Today was in his favor, because the mysterious figure in red footy pajamas that crept guiltily into his room was definitely Edge. A ragged stuffed bunny was clutched in one little hand, dragging on the floor behind him, and Rus made a mental note to steal Rabbit the next time the kid was napping. Looked like his lovey was in dire need of a little impromptu surgery again before all its insides played a reversal.

Edge shuffled up to Rus’s makeshift bed, shifting from foot to foot hopefully, “Russy?"

Rus only looked at him sternly. “what are you doing here, kiddo, it's late.”

He shrugged, a one shouldered affair that was very Rus-like, he noted with amusement. "wanted to see you."

“you aren't supposed to use the machine without your bro, you know that.” In the past couple years, Rus had gotten pretty good at the ‘very disappointed’ voice.

It worked pretty damn well, too. Edge scowled, his adorable little face scrunching unhappily as he blinked back tears. A rebuke from Rus was like one from the Angel themself, and maybe Rus had the voice down pat, but he hadn’t figured out yet how to harden his soul against those teary sockets. Rus shook his head and reached out to catch hold of him, hauling Edge up into the cushions and bundling him in blankets to cuddle that sadness away.

Normally that would have Edge giggling in minutes. That he only snuggled in, both little arms tight around Rus’s neck made Rus settle on a frown of his own. Carefully, he tugged Edge’s grip loose, sitting up with him into his lap. Absently, he noticed that Edge’s pajamas were getting a little tight, almost straining at the zipper. Looked like Blue was going to be getting some more hand-me-downs soon.

“okay, kid,” Rus said, “‘fess up. what's wrong?”

Edge swallowed hard, his eye lights downcast. “Red didn't eat dinner yesterday.”

That wasn’t at all what Rus expected to hear. He was thinking of a confession about breaking something and a pleading request that Rus be the one to tell Red, please and thank you. He hadn’t expected to hear that Red was the source of Edge’s worry. “what’s that now? he didn’t eat?”

Edge nodded slowly, “he didn’t eat dinner and he didn’t have a snack later and he didn’t yell to ‘not touch, damn it,’ because he was saving it. Is he sick?" They didn’t have a lower lip to wobble, but damn if Edge didn’t give it a try. His wide sockets were welling with tears that spilled over, trailing down his cheekbones. He let out a hitching sob, burying his face into Rus’s pajama shirt as he wept, “I don’t want him to be sick!”

"hey, hey, easy, sugar skull,” Rus crooned, his already aching soul constricting sorrowfully at those pitiful sobs. He cradled Edge into his arms like he had when he was much smaller, peppering soft kisses on top of his skull. "i’m sure your bro is fine. how’s about i talk to him, okay?"

Edge nodded, hiccoughing out a broken little, “Okay.”

“i’ll talk to him in the morning, promise. now, let’s get you back home…grk!” Rus broke off, suddenly strangled by Edge clinging to him with an impressive death grip. Wheezing, he managed, “your bro is gonna worry if he finds you gone, kid.”

“Nuh uh,” Edge clung stubbornly, “left a note.”

Of course he had, sneaky little shit, Rus thought fondly. Of all the baby bones, Edge was the most well behaved but when he got into trouble, brother, he was all in. Blue and Papyrus weren’t great at thinking ahead but Edge was a kid who made plans…like the time the three of them tried to make a raft so they could go down the river and be pirates like in one of the books Sans read them. The idea was sound, the execution? Not so much and Rus would be forever grateful it sank on its maiden voyage in the bathtub before any of them figured out how to sneak out.

Or the time they’d designed a ‘human trap’; man, that was never going to be not funny, the world lost out some true comedy when they didn’t get a picture of that. To be fair, the trap worked the very first time they tried it. A shame there wouldn’t be a second time, since the only thing they caught was Red, and he’d promptly shuffled it off this mortal coil and back to the dump.

Once he’d gotten over being pissed, though, Red had bragged the shit out of it. Edge designed the trap himself and the other two helped him build it. Pretty damn clever, all of them, but it was a good thing that Edge was normally the quiet one, because when he spoke up, all hell broke loose.

And it was breaking Rus’s damn soul to see the kid so unhappy.

Then an idea hit him. Edge didn’t seem inclined to let go anytime soon, so Rus was forced to roll the both of them to the side of the cushions, rummaging through the pockets of his shorts where they were laying rumpled on the floor.

“here, lemme show you something.” Rus held up a single G.

Curiosity seemed enough for Edge to loosen his grip a little, though he was too clever to let go entirely, ready to latch on again if it looked like Rus was going to try to make a daring escape.

“watch,” Rus told him. He set the coin in the bony palm of his hand, closing his fingers around it. With a grand gesture, he swooped his hand around, discreetly dropping the coin into his other hand behind Edge’s head, then held his closed fist in front of Edge’s face. “okay, blow on it.”

“Why?”

Rus’s mouth twitched into a grin, yep, that was Edge, curiosity and suspicion all blended as one. “because i think you can blow it away.”

His expression was doubtful, but Edge did it, blowing hard, and a little slobbery, over Rus’s knuckles. Those dubious eye lights went wide as Rus turned over his hand and opened it, showing his empty palm.

To his amusement, Edge turned his hand over and back, even pushing up his sleeve and peering into it. Finally, he looked up and demanded, “Where did it go?”

“toldja, you blew it away. oh, but what’s this?” He reached behind Edge’s skull and plucked the coin seemingly from thin air, “there it is! didn’t get too far away, did it.”

Memorizing that book of magic tricks he’d found at the dump before he sold it was worth all the effort to see the innocent wonder in Edge’s eye lights. Rus dropped the coin into Edge’s hands and wonder turned to flabbergasted delight.

He swallowed hard, looking up at Rus, and he doubted Edge would look half as awed at meeting the Queen herself. Barely, he whispered, “I can keep it?”

Rus buzzed a wet kiss against his forehead and that awe turned to a much more comfortable giggling squirm. He did make a mental note to show the same trick to other two so there wouldn’t be hurt feelings. He could spare a couple more G. “all yours, baby bones.”

Instantly, Edge scowled. Even his excitement over the coin wasn’t enough to let that pass. “M’not a baby!”

“course not,” Rus yawned. His lack of sleep was starting to catch up on him. Finally. “you’re a real tough guy, ain’t’cha.”

“Yeah,” Edge said stubbornly, and Rus thought it would be prudent not to point out the stuffed rabbit that was tucked into the blankets with them. “I’d keep you safe, Russy. Keep everyone safe.”

“i know you would, kiddo.” That this little kid would even know to think such things gave Rus a moment of aching sorrow. Rus swallowed it down behind a grin, scrubbing his knuckles roughly over the top of Edge’s skull before tugged him down deeper into the messy blankets. “c’mon, you can sleep here if you want. have to check your return policy in the morning, though.”

Edge giggled but already it was thick with drowsiness. He snuggled in, Rabbit in one arm and the other around Rus, with a fistful of Rus’s shirt clutched in one small hand. Just in case.

But he didn’t fall asleep, only shifted restlessly, and Rus smiled to himself. He knew where this was going. Very softly, Rus whispered to him, not quite singing, “you are my sunshine, my only sunshine, you make me happy, when skies are gray—”

Seemed like not being a baby bones didn’t mean abandoning lullabies quite yet. Edge sighed contently, humming along for a moment before his voice trailed off into slow, even breathing.

“please don’t take my sunshine away,” Rus finished, a bare thread of sound. He dropped a last fond kiss on top of Edge’s skull and for once, his soul felt content. No aching worries or nagging thoughts, only warm affection for the baby bones sleeping next to him, who was already starting to drool on the front of Rus’s pajamas.

Oh, sorry, not a baby bones, he thought to himself, tiredly amused. Edge was their protector, that was right, and all the Undergrounds would tremble in fear at the sight of him and Rabbit, saviors of skeletons everywhere.

He reached up to switch off the lamp, laying his head down on the cushions and closing his sockets. Tomorrow was soon enough to worry again, and Rus knew with sour certainty that if it involved Red, there would be plenty of troubles to share around.

TBC

[narcisskanotfrisk]

BeyondFell: Part 6 (updated)

Toriel was sitting quietly in her chair, reading a book whose title you would rather ignore. Frisk walked toward her a little shyly and started the conversation. "Miss Toriel?" Hmm ... Hello ... I want ... " "Hello my child! Do you want me to read you a little bit of this wonderful book? Cut the guardian. "No thanks ... I don't want to offend you, but I would like to know where the exit of the Ruins is?" " Toriel seemed to stiffen at Frisk's words, she lost her smile and looked at her. She looked furious, but filled with a certain melancholy. She got up, looking away from Frisk, and walked to the main hall. "Don't move from here!" " "Okay ..." said Frisk, stubbornly. Toriel went down the stairs, while Frisk looked at Flowey, unsure of what to do. After five minutes they heard huge noises coming from the stairs. Frisk had a bad feeling and hurried to "save" before running down the stairs. She failed to fall once or twice, then continued on down the hall below the stairs. Flowey also worried about what the noise might be. He shouted "Watch out!” To her friend, who nearly took the wall after a left turn. Our two friends arrived in a small room where they saw Toriel beating on a door to make it collapse. She use chained magic attacks and stones began to collapse from the ceiling. "Miss Toriel!" Why don't you want me to go ?! " "... You weren't the first to fall here. Before you, six other humans fell ... ASGORE killed them all with the help of the other monsters ... I only asked for a little company ... But if you want to die so much, so be it! I will kill you with my own hands !!! " Frisk barely had time to dodge the first ball Toriel sent him. She tried to speak to her several times, but that made her lose her breath. Taking advantage of the fact that she was out of breath, Toriel sent a well-placed fireball on Frisk. She and Flowey died burnt alive in excruciating cries of pain. Frisk found herself again facing the panel. She stayed a moment contemplating the panel, crying, remembering the pain of her last moments. She wondered if she shouldn't give up, if she shouldn't give up ... Then she pulled herself together. Flowey had always been nice to her. Besides, he too was dead through her fault, she couldn't give up now. She pressed the RESET button and a notch appeared on the palm of her hand before the world returned, just before she came down the stairs. She looked at Flowey and apologized for her death. "Frisk, you had nothing to do with it ... It was the keeper who attacked us so suddenly!" You did what you could to save us, and I know it! I was in the front row, after all! " "Thank you Flowey, it reassures me that you take it like this," Frisk exhaled as released from a weight. " It's nothing. However, we should hurry down! It may really block the exit otherwise! " They began to hear thudding noises below as during his previous death. They moved forward, but this time Frisk moved a little slower. She hoped not to have to feel her scorched flesh again, she had never felt such pain. She came back to Toriel again. However, it looked different, fewer rocks were blocking the way. Frisk didn't have time to speak to the keepers before she attacked her with unprecedented ferocity. She dodged her attacks as best as she could ... I watched the fight from above, desperate for Frisk's naivety. She was pitiful just by looking at her. She would never pass through the door of the Ruins at this rate. Suddenly Chara felt a breath behind her. She turned around in one movement and was surprised at the one she saw. It was just the ghost of the last time who looked at her. She did not have time to react, that he spoke to her ... "Yes, I can see you. After all, you are a ghost just like me. I remember seeing you with her." He pointed to Frisk, who was at the time trying her best to survive. "You need to know something, but I don't have much time. As soon as she dies, I will have no memory of you, only a vague memory of her passing without me killing her. monsters have a faculty: that of remembering the old timelines. " "How is that?" "I'm out of time, goodbye ..." Chara looked down. Frisk was surrounded by fire. Toriel’s attacks had left fires everywhere, and she was surrounded. She couldn't dodge Toriel's last attack and died ... This time Frisk wasted no time and continued on his adventure, not lingering in front of the control panel. She looked at Flowey and sighed softly, she couldn't give up, and neither could Flowey. The power to control timelines, also called DETERMINATION, could be considered a divine power. What if it was really a curse? Frisk walked again to where Toriel was standing, and confronted her again. However, despite the successive defeats, she continued to try. Why did she keep trying? I did not understand it. She was dying endlessly against the guardian, but she did not give up. Perhaps the pain of her repetitive deaths had changed her? It’s been a while since I stopped counting the number of her deaths. How many tries was it? One hundred ? Or much more? The notches had continued to appear on her. You could hardly see her arms anymore, her face was starting to have a few notches on it. I was wondering if the monster from the last time had told the truth? If what he told me was true, then why didn't the keeper realize what she was putting her through? Or maybe he hadn’t had time to tell me everything? My memory was still blurry, but I remember meeting it before today. Frisk… Why don't you fight back? Do you enjoy being hurt like this? Your kindness will eventually lose you, with a power like yours ...

[au-eldritchfell]

True Reset - Load - Continue

Main Menu

~

Image Description: Eldritchfell Chapter 2: Heartfelt. At the very front of the cover are Toriel and Chara. They’re holding hands, glaring towards the viewer. Chara is wearing the upside-down heart locket Toriel wore throughout the first chapter, and wielding their kitchen knife. Toriel is missing her headpiece and cloak, her eyes are solid violet with sidewards light-pink pupils, and pink markings around her eyes. She wields a silver dagger with a gold edge, and a golden Delta Rune symbol. Behind them are two massive green arms, edged with thorns, three massive claw-like thorns at the very tips. Looming ominously above them is the face of Photoshop Flowey. A television screen on a fleshy pink misshapen head, suspended by green vines with red thorns and countless silver cables. The screen is cracked, the face on the screen is grinning maniacally, obscured by fuzzy static. 

*What do I remember…? That was an excellent question. Frisk remembered a great deal of things… albeit not very well. A goat child, who resembled Toriel, leaning above them with a distraught look upon his face. The same goat child sitting with them… somewhere as a tall figure in blue robes stood. Someone who was maybe Toriel reaching towards them, paw enveloped in pink flame. They could hear Chara and Toriel speaking behind them (“What’s that smell?” “I suppose I cannot hide it from you any longer.”), but found themself drifting further down the halls of Toriel’s little cottage, lost in memories. The walls were a comforting yellow, small lanterns with little flames within lighting them, some flowers on tables in the halls… *(I don’t remember this but to be fair, I was kinda out of it…) *(So what do I remember.) They remembered… touching their hand and seeing it come away wet with blood. Blood was a familiar sight to them, but it was… a very bad sight. Did they have hospitals Underground? *(I was dying, I died, I know I did. But before that…) *(Someone carried me here, and took me…) That kid. About their own age. He looked like Toriel, he… he had Toriel’s necklace… and a green and yellow sweater… He’d taken him… a long way it felt like, to… They paused at a door. *(Was it… here?) And passed through, the walls red here, a fuzzy carpet upon the floor. *(This feels familiar. I think it was. And there was… A boy? A monster kid? He was… What was his name?)

~~

Chapter two begins! Pages are a bit longer now. Hope you enjoy! :D 

[liketolaugh-writes]

[Context: Sebastian is a LetsPlayer in modern times. He is still a demon and the events of Kuroshitsuji happened over a hundred years ago as appropriate. He does not currently have a master, having finished with his last some five to ten years ago. Because he enjoys human pastimes on occasion, he decided to amuse himself with this for a while. It’s set in the Marvel universe, insofar as metas are known to exist and he is known as a lightly closeted one. He is currently playing Undertale, and because of who he is as a person, has accidentally stumbled onto the Genocide route on his first playthrough.]

The character avatar walks down the purple hallway. In the top-left corner, Sebastian’s brows are furrowed. He looks unsettled, but is attempting to appear merely bored.

Sebastian: This is quite an unusual take on an RPG game, I’ll admit. I’ve never encountered one that attempted to make me feel guilty for progressing before. Toriel’s last words in particular were… well. I expect this is going to be quite an interesting letsplay.

The avatar reaches the hallway exit and goes through. On the other side, Flowey is sitting in a spotlight.

Sebastian: Oh, it’s you again. Now, you, I would not feel bad for killing at all.

Flowey: Hahaha… You’re not really human, are you?

Sebastian’s eyebrows lift as he reads the dialogue. For a moment, he looks amused.

Flowey: No. You’re empty inside. Just like me. In fact… You’re Ciel, right? We’re still inseparable, after all these years…

Sebastian’s brows furrow, and he pauses in reading the dialogue.

Sebastian: That’s an interesting plot twist, this early in the game. I thought I’d just fallen down. Perhaps I have escaped the Underground before? But then, why is it that I fell in again? To take revenge?

Flowey: Listen. I have a plan to become all powerful. Even more powerful than you and your stolen soul.

Sebastian scowls, but does not remark on the dialogue.

Flowey: Let’s destroy everything in this wretched world. Everyone, everything in these worthless memories. Let’s turn ‘em all to dust.

Flowey [computer-generated voice]: That’s a wonderful idea!

Flowey disappears into the ground, and Sebastian continues to frown at the screen. His scowl has eased.

Sebastian: That was… odd. This game is obviously not what it first appears. Is that my goal, then? To conquer the Underground? It seems frivolous and unnecessary, but it’s quite the take on the traditional RPG mechanic of slaughtering everything you come across.

The avatar begins to move forward again and soon encounters the door out.

The screen fades to black and then displays the title screen, UNDERTALE. It then switches to By Toby Fox, and then to black. Sebastian smiles.

Sebastian: As I said, quite an interesting game. I’m looking forward to continuing it. I expect it has some interesting lessons to teach, and perhaps some remarks on human nature as well. It’s a surprising contrast with the rather cute aesthetic.

Sebastian chuckles, and as the screen reforms on a snowy forest, the avatar begins walking right, and then pauses and interacts with the bush nearby.

[…!? There’s a camera hidden in the bushes.]

Sebastian: …Interesting.

The avatar continues right. The avatar passes a branch, and a handful of steps after the avatar passes, it breaks unexpectedly. Sebastian rolls his eyes.

Sebastian: The music is appropriately ominous for such a setting. I do hope I have an encounter worthy of it soon.

The avatar starts to cross a bridge, and then stops on the left edge. A shadow begins to approach from where the avatar came from.

Sebastian: Speak of the devil.

Sebastian chooses a creaky, deep voice for the new character.

?: H u m a n.

The avatar turns around. The shadow sticks out its hand, and the avatar takes it. The shadow is suddenly lit, revealing itself to be a grinning skeleton in a blue hoodie, and a fart sound plays. Sebastian snorts, visibly surprised.

Sebastian: Well, that was rather anticlimactic.

?: heheh… the old whoopee cushion in the hand trick. it’s ALWAYS funny.

Despite the change of font, Sebastian sticks with the original voice, raising one eyebrow and smiling in obvious amusement.

?: …that’s, uh. your cue to laugh. or, uh, to emote at all…?

Sebastian chuckles again.

Sebastian: They really are pushing the inhumanity of this character, aren’t they? They ought to be careful not to go heavy-handed, but it’s amusing as it is, and somewhat unsettling as intended.

?: …(gee, lady, you really know how to pick ‘em, huh…?) OK, that’s fine. everyone’s got their own sense of humor. i’m sans. sans the skeleton. im actually supposed to be on watch for humans right now. but… you know… i dont really care about capturing anybody.

Sebastian grins.

Sebastian: Perhaps you should, Mr. Skeleton. It looks like letting this one go will be bad for your health.

Sans: now my brother, papyrus… he’s a human-hunting FANATIC.

Sebastian: Ah, so is that the interesting battle I’m promised? Or- no. No, given the nature of the last boss, I don’t suppose any of these bosses are going to be truly terrible people. Hm. Does that mean I won’t be able to dispose of Flowey?

Sans: hey, actually, I think that’s him over there.

Sebastian: Another boss battle already? That seems unlikely, so I suppose this Sans character is going to help me as well.

Sans: i have an idea. go through this gate thingy. yeah, go right through. my bro made the bars too wide to stop anyone.

Sebastian chuckles, head dipping as he smirks. The avatar and Sans rush right, quickly arriving at a small area containing a lamp shaped precisely like the profile view of the avatar, two rocks, and a shop stand.

Sans: quick, behind that conveniently-shaped lamp.

The avatar does not move. Sebastian raises his eyebrows.

Sans: …uh, okay, i guess you don’t have to.

Sebastian [softly]: …Strange.

From the right, a tall skeleton in red zooms in, stopping in front of Sans and the avatar. Sebastian chooses a high, crackly voice for this character.

Papyrus: SANS!!! HAVE YOU FOUND A HUMAN YET!??!

Sans: yeah

Sebastian: From any other game I would expect betrayal, but…

Papyrus: REALLY!?!? WOWIE!!!

Sebastian: Goodness, two lines and I already cannot wait for this character to be gone.

Papyrus: GUESS THAT’S SETTLED!!

The skeleton leaves out the right side. Sebastian snorts.

Sebastian: My wish has been granted.

Sans: that worked out, huh?

The avatar wanders around the screen and interacts with the lamp.

[Just a conveniently-shaped lamp.]

Sebastian chuckles.

Sebastian: I’ll admit, this game is quite funny when it isn’t resorting to bodily humor.

The avatar moves to the stand and interacts.

[It’s some sort of checkpoint or sentry-station. But there are bottles of ketchup, mustard, and relish sitting inside…]

Sebastian: I hope they don’t belong to the skeletons. I imagine that would be quite messy, and what a waste.

The avatar begins to move right but is stopped at the exit.

Sans: well, i’ll be straight-forward with you. my brother’d really like to see a human… so, y’know, it’d really help me out… if you kept pretending to be one.

Sebastian pauses, staring at the screen with an unreadable expression as Sans exits left.

Sebastian: Again with this, hm…? If not a human, then I wonder what I’m meant to be.

Sebastian smiles.

Sebastian: Perhaps a demon? Well, I suppose I’ll find out in time. …If I find out that the playable character is a metahuman, however, I’m going to be deeply disappointed in not only the game’s creator, but also every person who recommended this game to me. That would be an utterly pathetic plot twist.

The avatar exits right, and the approaches the nearby sparkling save point.

[16 Left]

Sebastian: Quite handy. But why is the text red…?

The avatar explores the area for a while, and then encounters a monster. The monster is identified as Snowdrake.

[Snowdrake flutters forth!]

Sebastian: Though I may come to regret it, given the odd ‘but nobody came’ encounters, I believe I’ll handle all of these now. I’ll clip in the images and dialogue of each new monster, however – for your amusement, yes?

The screen skips through several images without remark and resettles on the same stretch of path.

Sebastian: That didn’t take too long, did it?

Sebastian smiles.

Sebastian: Now we can progress the story without interference. I could do without the skeleton characters, myself, but they’re a necessary evil. Never mind- they’ll be gone soon enough.

Sebastian laughs, and the avatar exits right.

Sebastian: I did explore the top path, but there was nothing of interest. Ah, here we are.

Papyrus: SO SANS! WHEN’S THE HUMAN SHOWING UP???

Sebastian: Mr. Papyrus’ enthusiasm is amusing, but I’ve known enough people like him to be quite glad that his dialogue is text-only. Goodness knows how loud it would be.

Papyrus: I WANT TO LOOK MY SUNDAY BEST… OR AT LEAST MY TUESDAY PRETTY-GOOD.

Sebastian laughs again and shakes his head slightly.

Sebastian: A game with a sense of humor more sophisticated than a grade schooler, what a rarity.

Sans: don’t you only have one outfit?

Papyrus: YEAH, BUT I COULD STYLE MY HAIR!

Sebastian covers his mouth with the back of his hand. He is grinning, and his eyes glitter with amusement.

Sans: oh. right. good idea. say, why don’t you look over there?

Papyrus looks at the avatar. An exclamation mark appears briefly over his head. He turns back at Sans, who turns to the human, and then back to the human, while Sans looks back at Papyrus. This process repeats itself several times, rapidly speeding up, and Sebastian lowers his hand to smile in open amusement. Eventually, both skeletons stop, and then turn right.

Papyrus: SANS!!! OH MY GOD!!!!

Sebastian: That is entirely too many exclamation points, and I can picture the volume perfectly.

Papyrus: I’M DIZZY. WHAT AM I LOOKING AT?

Sebastian snorts, apparently caught by surprise.

Sans: behold.

Sans turns to his brother. The screen pans left to center on the avatar and reveal a rock.

Papyrus: OH MY GOD!!!

The screen shunts right again as Papyrus turns back to Sans.

Papyrus: WHY ARE YOU TELLING ME TO LOOK AT A ROCK.

Sebastian closes his eyes and covers his mouth with a gloved hand. A muffled snort escapes anyway and the corners of his eyes are crinkled. After a second, he removes his hand and shakes his head.

Sebastian: This game is entirely too much.

Sans turns back to the avatar.

Sans: hey, what’s that in front of the rock?

An exclamation mark appears above Papyrus’ head.

Papyrus: OH MY GOD!!!

Sebastian takes a deep breath.

Papyrus: I HAVE NO IDEA WHAT THAT IS.

Sebastian lets it out in a huff, closes his eyes, and tilts his head back briefly. After two seconds, he opens them again, and then continues without comment.

Sans: well. it’s not a rock.

Sebastian: A pair of geniuses, these two.

Papyrus: NOT A ROCK…? OH NO!!! BY PROCESS OF ELIMINATION!!! THAT MEANS IT’S A HUMAN!!!

Sebastian closes his eyes again, presses his palm to a forehead, and for a moment, laughs helplessly, quiet and breathy.

Sebastian: What an imbecile.

Sebastian opens his eyes and continues on, shaking his head.

Papyrus: AHEM!! HUMAN!! PREPARE YOURSELF!! FOR HIGH JINKS! FOR LOW JINKS! DANGERS! PUZZLES! CAPERS! JAPERS! BEING CAPTURED!! AND OTHER SORTS OF FUN ACTIVITIES.

Sebastian rolls his eyes.

Sebastian: If I have any say in the matter, I will not be participating in a single one of those things, Mr. Skeleton. Particularly not with someone as obviously loud as yourself – my ears hurt and you’re not even speaking aloud.

Papyrus: REFRESHMENTS WILL BE PROVIDED… IF YOU DARE! NYEH HEH HEH HEH HEH HEH HEH HEH!!!

Sebastian wrinkles his nose as Papyrus exits right.

Sebastian: Is that his laugh? How awful. I shall give him as little cause to do that as possible.

Sans turns to the avatar.

Sans: …and you don’t even bat an eye, huh?

Sans exits right.

Sebastian: Well, I wouldn’t want to give that moron any form of encouragement. That’s your job, is it not? Really, this Sans character is… quite suspicious, I’d say. Though not as suspicious as the playable character, naturally… Given that they seem to be on a warpath. Now, let’s see-

The avatar moves right and interacts with the stand nearby.

[There’s some narration on this cardboard box.]

[YOU OBSERVE THE WELL-CRAFTED SENTRY STATION. WHO COULD HAVE BUILT THIS, YOU PONDER… I BET IT WAS THAT VERY FAMOUS ROYAL GUARDSMAN!]

Sebastian rolls his eyes again and sighs, muttering something inaudible before speaking.

Sebastian: Goodness, he does get into everything, doesn’t he? And self-congratulatory, too. I’d bet anything he isn’t a royal guardsman at all.

[(NOTE: NOT YET A VERY FAMOUS ROYAL GUARDSMAN.)]

Sebastian pinches the bridge of his nose.

Sebastian: Ridding the Underground of this idiot will be a service.

The avatar moves right. An encounter appears.

[but nobody came.]

Sebastian: Ah yes, there it is. Very ominous… the first few times, at least.

The avatar continues right and crosses into the path of another station, this one sporting a bell. When the avatar reaches it, a dog emerges from behind the counter.

?: D-did something move? Was it my imagination? I can only see moving things. …hey! I can’t stop shivering all of a sudden. …Who’s there!?

An encounter overtakes the screen.

[Doggo blocks the way!]

Sebastian: Why would you announce your biggest weakness to the world immediately before initiating a fight? Really, now… I’ll take many things at face value in a PC game, but some of these habits are simply absurd.

Sebastian continues to mutter as the fight progresses, looking bored. Doggo is easily defeated, and the avatar moves on, exiting right.

Sebastian: I might have been more sympathetic if it had been a cat. Of course, a cat likely wouldn’t have announced its only weakness so easily, hm?

The avatar continues to travel.

[but nobody came.]

[but nobody came.]

[but nobody came.]

Sebastian: Yes, yes, I understand, everyone is dead. I am aware of that. I actually made that happen. It doesn’t appear to have decreased the amount of trouble I go to just to move, unfortunately.

The avatar reaches an intersection, pauses briefly, and exits top. A snowman appears onscreen and the avatar approaches and interacts with it.

?: Hello. I am a snowman. I cannot move. Traveller, if you could…

[(You got the Snowman Piece.)]

Sebastian: Well, that was simple foolishness.

Sebastian checks the Snowman Piece in his inventory.

[“Snowman Piece” – Heals 45 HP. Please take this to the ends of the earth.]

Sebastian smirks with too many teeth.

Sebastian: 45 HP, hm? I think I’d like more of that, if at all possible.

The avatar interacts with the Snowman again.

Snowman: Oh me, oh my. What are you doing? Soon there won’t be any of me left…

Sebastian: I’m taking your flesh for sustenance, isn’t it obvious?

[(You got the Snowman Piece.)]

The Snowman shrinks dramatically. Sebastian smirks, and the avatar interacts with the Snowman again.

Snowman: Stop… Please…

The Snowman collapses into a small puddle of snow. Sebastian chuckles, raising an eyebrow.

Sebastian: Well, what did you expect, giving pieces of yourself to a stranger? Quite foolish, as I said. You should never give of yourself, really – even those you trust can easily turn their backs on you.

The avatar interacts with the pile of snow again.

[A useless pile of snow.]

Sebastian: Only three, then. Well, that’s quite enough to be getting on with. I won’t need that many, with a small amount of luck and a fair bit of skill. And I like to think I have both in spades, don’t you?

The avatar exits bottom, and heads toward the right exit. An encounter spawns.

[but nobody came.]

Sebastian pauses, frowning.

Sebastian: …An interesting choice of mechanic.

Sebastian ends the encounter and the avatar exits right. Sans and Papyrus are waiting by a bridge on the other side.

Papyrus: YOU’RE SO LAZY!! YOU WERE NAPPING ALL NIGHT!!

Sans: i think that’s called… sleeping.

Sebastian: Regretfully, I’m actually on Mr. Papyrus’ side on this one.

Papyrus: EXCUSES, EXCUSES!

Sans and Papyrus turn to look at the avatar.

Papyrus: OH- HO! THE HUMAN ARRIVES! IN ORDER TO STOP YOU… MY BROTHER AND I HAVE CREATED SOME PUZZLES!

Sebastian rolls his eyes.

Sebastian: Well, at least they bothered to come up with an in-universe reason for gratuitous puzzle-solving, I suppose. Once again, that’s better than most games do.

Papyrus: I THINK YOU WILL FIND THIS ONE… QUITE SHOCKING!!!

The avatar starts to walk across the patch of bare ground, and Sebastian blinks, and then frowns, and then laughs, the corners of his eyes crinkling in amusement.

Sebastian: I think I could get along with this character.

Papyrus: FOR YOU SEE, THIS IS… THE, INVISIBLE… UHHHHHHH…?

Sebastian: Yes, Mr. Skeleton, not everyone is willing to play along with your foolish and pointless antics. I see this character’s attitude is going to save me quite a bit of time.

Sebastian actually looks slightly put-out by the notion.

Papyrus: HMMM… YOU MUST BE HAVING CULTURE SHOCK. YOU SEE, WHERE I COME FROM, IT’S A LOVING TRADITION. TO SUFFER THROUGH HORRIBLE PUZZLES FOR NO REASON.

Sebastian sighs and pinches the bridge of his nose.

Sebastian: This feels oddly familiar, for some reason… Though of course, as the playable character is the one visiting here, they are indeed being rather rude. It saves me time, but not that much time, I suspect.

The avatar continues to approach the skeletons.

Papyrus: SO, UH, JUST WALK BACK THERE, AND…

The avatar does not move. Both skeletons turn south.

Papyrus: SIGH… WHY COULDN’T WE GET A HUMAN THAT LIKES PUZZLES???

Papyrus exits right.

Sebastian: My amusement at the character’s attitude aside, I would have preferred to be allowed to play the puzzles as I wished. They are a fundamental part of this sort of game, after all.

The avatar moves towards Sans and interacts.

Sans: it would make my brother happy if you played along.

Sebastian: Surprisingly, that is not my primary concern.

The avatar exits right, crosses the bridge on the other side, and passes by several trees and a snowball.

Sebastian: I’ve said it a few times already, but I’m continually fascinated by many of the stylistic choices this game makes. They all seem to be geared in a certain direction, but I’m not sure I understand what they’re trying to say as yet. I assume I will later.

The avatar exits top right, walks past both doghouses, and then returns left. Sebastian grimaces.

Sebastian: Dogs.

Eventually, the avatar exits bottom-right and emerges with the two skeletons again, and a piece of paper on the ground to their left.

Papyrus: HUMAN!!! I HOPE YOU’RE READY FOR… SANS!! WHERE’S THE PUZZLE!!!

Sebastian: At this stage, what on earth makes him think I would complete a puzzle?

Sans: it’s right there. on the ground.

Sebastian: Somehow, I’m not surprised in the least.

Sans: trust me. there’s no way they’ll skip this one.

The avatar walks past the piece of paper. Sebastian looks pained.

Papyrus: SANS!!! THAT DID NOTHING!!!

Sans: whoops. knew i should have put down junior jumble instead.

Sebastian: Oh yes, I certainly would have been far more interested in that, rather than- whatever it is that’s on the ground there.

Papyrus: WHAT?!? JUNIOR JUMBLE!? FINALLY, SOMETHING WE CAN BOTH AGREE ON.

Papyrus exits right. The avatar moves to interact with Sans.

Sans: guess you don’t like word searches, huh? me neither. i’m more of a funny pages kinda guy.

Sebastian: Of course you are. They share your high-brow sense of humor, Mr. Skeleton.

The avatar exits right, finding a piece of paper, a table with spaghetti on top, and a microwave. The top wall has a small mouse hole. Sebastian smirks and the avatar goes to interact with the piece of paper.

[It’s a note from Papyrus…]

[HUMAN!! PLEASE ENJOY THIS SPAGHETTI. (LITTLE DO YOU KNOW, THIS SPAGHETTI IS A TRAP… DESIGNED TO ENTICE YOU!!! YOU’LL BE SO BUSY EATING IT… THAT YOU WON’T REALIZE THAT YOU AREN’T PROGRESSING!! THOROUGHLY JAPED AGAIN BY THE GREAT PAPYRUS!!! NYEH-HEH-HEH, PAPYRUS)]

Sebastian chuckles.

Sebastian: Not much of an antagonist… or a human-hunter. And that laugh is still awful.

The avatar interacts with the save point, the spaghetti, and the microwave.

[10 left.]

[(It’s a plate of frozen spaghetti. It’s so cold, it’s stuck to the table…)]

[(It’s an unplugged microwave. All of the settings say “spaghetti.”)]

Sebastian rolls his eyes.

Sebastian: Idiot.

The avatar continues on until it reaches two dogs, which come up from the south exit.

?: What’s that smell? (Where’s that smell?) If you’re a smell… (…Identify yoursmellf!)

The two dogs wander the screen around the avatar for a few seconds before converging on it.

?: Hmmm… Here’s that weird smell… It makes me want to eliminate… (…Eliminate YOU!)

An encounter triggers.

Sebastian: God, when will I escape the dogs?

[Dogi assault you!]

Sebastian: The story of my life.

Sebastian swiftly kills Dogaressa, and then the depressed Dogamy.

Sebastian: When will I be free from the dogs…

The avatar continues to make progress, and passes by what appears to be a completed puzzle. Sebastian looks put-out again.

Sebastian: I actually would like to complete a puzzle at some point, please!

The avatar exits right, finding a grayscale board with Papyrus and Sans on the right side, standing by a machine.

Papyrus: HEY! IT’S THE HUMAN! YOU’RE GONNA LOVE THIS PUZZLE!

The avatar starts to cross the board, and Sebastian sighs, a look of resignation on his face as the avatar stops halfway across.

Sebastian: This is getting rather annoying.

Papyrus: IT WAS MADE BY THE GREAT… ARE YOU SERIOUS? SANS!!! HELP!!!

A flicker of a smile crosses Sebastian’s face. He does not explain this.

Papyrus: THEY KEEP WALKING THROUGH MY PUZZLES! THEY’RE SUPPOSED TO LET ME EXPLAIN THEM. THEN THREATEN AND BAFFLE THEM WITH DANGEROUS JAPES.

Sebastian looks exasperatedly amused.

Sebastian: This character could not be less threatening if he wasn’t a skeleton. He can do as he likes, of course, but…

Sans: well, maybe they don’t like japes.

Papyrus: EVERYONE LIKES JAPES!!!

Sans: what about undyne? doesn’t she hate puzzles?

Papyrus: SHE HATES PUZZLES. BUT SHE LOVES JAPES.

Sebastian: The distinction is vital, of course- though I couldn’t tell you what it is.

Sans: that makes sense.

Papyrus: HUMAN!! WHAT DO YOU THINK!? PUZZLES OR JAPES? … … OKAY, THIS IS NORMALLY THE PART. WHERE YOU EITHER AGREE OR DISAGREE. AND DEPENDING ON YOUR ANSWER. WE SAY SOMETHING GREAT IN RESPONSE. …HERE, WHY DON’T YOU DO THIS PUZZLE YOURSELF.

Papyrus leaves a piece of paper on the ground and slowly exits right.

Sebastian: Well, he is attempting to be helpful. He would be meeting with more success, however, if he was remotely capable of comprehending the problem at hand. Perhaps being a skeleton is suppressing his self-preservation instincts?

The avatar ignores the paper and interacts with Sans.

Sans: hey… puzzles might be fun. if you tried them.

Sebastian looks irritated.

Sebastian: Yes, I actually happen to agree with that. If I was permitted to try them.

The avatar exits right, passes the dog house, and saves.

[6 left.]

Sebastian: Mini-bosses, I assume.

The avatar exits right again and encounters another puzzle, which Sebastian solves on the first try. He still smiles slightly as the avatar exits right.

Sebastian: Well, at least that wasn’t a complete waste.

The avatar exits bottom and finds Sans.

Sans: what’s up?

Sebastian: What, nothing else?

The avatar goes left and finds Sans on the other side unreasonably quickly. Sebastian smirks slightly and the avatar interacts with Sans.

Sans: say… are you following me?

Sebastian: Clearly, I have nothing better to do.

The avatar exits left, wanders around, and an encounter triggers. It is skipped without comment, and the avatar exits top again, and then right.

Sebastian: Quite a bit of fairly pointless wandering. Am I missing something, I wonder? Though that may be an engineered feeling.

The avatar continues on and finally encounters a number of small piles of snow, ending in a large, excitable armored dog which emerges from another. Sebastian pinches the bridge of his nose again.

[It’s the Greater Dog.]

Sebastian: My worst nightmare.

Sebastian defeats this foe easily.

Sebastian: There isn’t much challenge to this game, is there? Is that, too, deliberate?

Sebastian smirks.

Sebastian: Then again, I may simply be uncommonly good at it.

The avatar continues on, eventually coming to one end of a bridge. On the other, Papyrus and Sans waited.

Papyrus: HUMAN! THIS IS YOUR FINAL AND MOST DANGEROUS CHALLENGE!

Sebastian: I haven’t been given any challenges yet.

Papyrus: BEHOLD! THE GAUNTLET OF DEADLY TERROR!

Six different weapons emerge from various parts of the screen, in between the avatar and the skeletons. Sebastian raises his eyebrows and smirks.

Sebastian: Why, Mr. Skeleton, I never would have attributed such viciousness to your character!

Papyrus: WHEN I SAY THE WORD, IT WILL FULLY ACTIVATE! CANNONS WILL FIRE! SPIKES WILL SWING! BLADES WILL SLICE! EACH PART WILL SWING VIOLENTLY UP AND DOWN! ONLY THE TINIEST CHANCE OF VICTORY WILL REMAIN!!!

Sebastian looks unimpressed.

Papyrus: ARE YOU READY!? BECAUSE! I! AM! ABOUT! TO DO IT!

A pause. Papyrus turns away. Sebastian looks irritated.

Sans: well? what’s the holdup?

Papyrus: HOLDUP!? WHAT HOLDUP!? I’M… I’M ABOUT TO ACTIVATE IT NOW!

Pause.

Sebastian: Oh, for goodness’ sake.

Sans: that, uh, doesn’t look very activated.

Papyrus: WELL! …THEY’RE PROBABLY GOING TO WALK THROUGH IT. AND IT WON’T BE ANY FUN AT ALL.

Sebastian: You know, I’m not surprised in the least. And, of course, he doesn’t at all realize that once he activates it, ‘just walking through it’ is actually the entire point…

Sans: hmmm… so this human thing was a bust, huh?

Papyrus: WELL. I MEAN. I’M EXCITED TO CAPTURE THEM. SO I’LL BECOME A FAMOUS ROYAL GUARDSMAN!!!

Sebastian: You may try, Mr. Skeleton.

Papyrus: BUT ALL THE TIME I PUT INTO THESE PUZZLES… IT’S KIND OF LIKE THROWING A BIRTHDAY PARTY…

Sans: without traps and fire?

Papyrus: EXACTLY!! IT’S POINTLESS!!!

Sebastian: Goodness. I am violently reminded of far too many people.

Papyrus: MAYBE YOU WERE RIGHT TO BE LAZY ABOUT PUZZLES.

Sans: me? right about something? really?

Papyrus: …YEAH!! WHAT AM I SAYING! YOU’RE STILL COMPLETELY WRONG! I JUST HAVE THE WRONG AUDIENCE! THINK ABOUT HOW MUCH FUN UNDYNE WOULD HAVE HERE! FLAMES, VIOLENCE, IT’S RIGHT UP HER ALLEY!

Sebastian rolls his eyes.

Sebastian: Far too many people.

Papyrus: SO I WON’T WASTE THIS PUZZLE ON YOU. I JUST HAVE TO APPRECIATE… THE FRIEND I ALREADY HAVE!!!

Sebastian: And perhaps your brother, supporting you every step of the way. But that’s none of my business, of course.

The weapons withdraw and Papyrus turns away.

Papyrus: PHEW! A VALUABLE LIFE LESSON!!! NYEH HEH HEH!!!

Sebastian scowls as he reads the laugh, but does not drop the in-character voice. Papyrus exits right.

Sebastian: Another waste of time, I see.

The avatar exits right, passing Sans this time. Soon it comes to a town, which is mostly quiet. The avatar enters a building, and what appears to be a shopping screen pops up.

[But nobody came.]

Sebastian: That flavor text is going to haunt me in my rare attempts to sleep.

Sebastian selects ‘read’ first.

[(There’s a note here.) Please don’t hurt my family.]

Sebastian: This isn’t a game, this is a lecture on why it doesn’t actually pay to murder people who annoy you.

Sebastian then selects ‘steal.’

[You took 758G from behind the counter.]

Sebastian: And plenty of good that does me if I have no need to buy anything because the shopkeeper has apparently run away.

Sebastian selects ‘take’ and takes one of each item. Then he closes the shopping screen and the avatar continues to explore the area. It is abandoned. The avatar interacts with the sparkling save point.

[Determination.]

The avatar wanders right and finds a monster. Sebastian raises one eyebrow and the avatar interacts with it. He chooses a squeaky voice for the character.

?: Yo, everyone ran away and hid somewhere. Man, adults can be so dumb sometimes, haha… Don’t they know we’ve got Undyne to protect us!?

Sebastian [deadpan]: A tiny moron.

The avatar continues right, but every building it enters is abandoned. Sebastian frowns.

Sebastian: Then why bother to develop the town so thoroughly at all…?

Finally, the avatar exits right into a misty area. It continues right until it is obscured, and then stops and appears as a shadow. A moment later, a shadow Papyrus appears as well. Sebastian sighs, frowning.

Sebastian: Ah. From the looks of the scenery, I’d say it’s time.

Papyrus: HALT, HUMAN!

The avatar steps forward.

Papyrus: HEY, QUIT MOVING WHILE I’M TALKING TO YOU!

Sebastian smirks faintly.

Sebastian: I suppose it is rather rude. But it won’t matter soon, Mr. Skeleton.

Papyrus: I, THE GREAT PAPYRUS, HAVE SOME THINGS TO SAY. FIRST: YOU’RE A FREAKING WEIRDO!

Sebastian snorts.

Papyrus: NOT ONLY DO YOU NOT LIKE PUZZLES. BUT THE WAY YOU SHAMBLE ABOUT FROM PLACE TO PLACE… THE WAY YOUR HANDS ARE ALWAYS COVERED IN DUSTY POWDER. IT FEELS… LIKE YOUR LIFE IS GOING DOWN A DANGEROUS PATH.

Sebastian’s expression falls into something unreadable.

Papyrus: HOWEVER! I, PAPYRUS, SEE GREAT POTENTIAL WITHIN YOU! EVERYONE CAN BE A GREAT PERSON IF THEY TRY!

Sebastian stops, and remains silent and motionless for five seconds.

Papyrus: AND ME, I HARDLY HAVE TO TRY AT ALL!!! NYEH HEH HEH HEH HEH HEH!

Sebastian does not react to either of these statements and reads them somewhat mechanically, though still in his chosen voice. The avatar steps forward again.

Papyrus: HEY, QUIT MOVING! THIS IS EXACTLY WHAT I AM TALKING ABOUT! HUMAN! I THINK YOU ARE IN NEED OF GUIDANCE! SOMEONE NEEDS TO KEEP YOU ON THE STRAIGHT AND NARROW! BUT WORRY NOT! I, PAPYRUS… WILL GLADLY BE YOUR FRIEND AND TUTOR! I WILL TURN YOUR LIFE RIGHT AROUND!!!

The avatar continues to walk forward. Sebastian’s voice has regained his energy, but he is still expressionless.

Papyrus: I SEE YOU ARE APPROACHING. ARE YOU OFFERING A HUG OF ACCEPTANCE?

Sebastian [softly]: Fool.

Papyrus: WOWIE!! MY LESSONS ARE ALREADY WORKING!! I, PAPYRUS, WELCOME YOU WITH OPEN ARMS!

An encounter triggers and Sebastian flinches, and then scowls.

[Papyrus is sparing you.]

Sebastian: He really is precisely that kind of idiot, isn’t he? Goodness.

Sebastian scowls for a moment longer, and then kills Papyrus in silence.

Papyrus: W-WELL, THAT’S NOT WHAT I EXPECTED… BUT… ST… STILL!

Sebastian cuts himself off. His eyes go wide and begin to glow bright crimson, and his canines lengthen into fangs. Three seconds pass, and then the glow fades from his eyes, his fangs shrink away, and he relaxes. He looks melancholy. Two more seconds pass, and he reads the dialogue in a quiet and unadorned voice.

Papyrus: I BELIEVE IN YOU! YOU CAN DO A LITTLE BETTER! EVEN IF YOU DON’T THINK SO! I… I PROMISE…

Three seconds of silence pass.

Sebastian: Well. If I had known he was that sort of character, I might have paid more mind to him earlier on. All the same… it is too late now, I suppose.

Two more seconds of silence pass, and then the avatar begins to walk again.

[harperhug]

Could You Come Pry Me Out? Chapter 19

As always, thank you to @the-curious-paracosm @terrified-mind @itsmarvely @nurse-in-purplescrubs @vulcanplomeeksoup @dpdconnor @lastchanceconnor @lizzy-chen-1998 @ssconess for always having my back as I churn out...whatever this is.

Edit: Holy shit I am so sorry! I could’ve sworn I put in a Keep Reading!

Read below the cut or here on AO3!

“I have permission to be here,” Gabe said confidently. He beckoned Brian over. “Play that audio clip of Captain Flowey giving us permission.”

Brian turned his head so his undoubtedly-red LED wasn’t visible. It had surprised him when he was in Ruba’s body, how easily he could just…do things. There was no program, nothing telling him where he couldn’t go or what actions he couldn’t perform, just impulses, like picking up a stale donut off Lt. Anderson’s desk to stick in his mouth or taking a longer path to avoid getting his clothes wet. He never thought about doing them, they just happened automatically as if programmed into the human.

Muscle memory, Gabe had said. Brian could replay the moment back, pitch-perfect and crystal-clear, but it would just be a replay. Ruba didn’t replay memories, she relived them. The somewhat woodsy smell of the police lieutenant’s car had made Brian briefly picture sitting on a dusty wooden floor, Ruba’s legs in white tights sticking out in front of her as she kicked off her heels. He could feel it as if he were there, and there was no command that could make him stop reliving the memory and start doing something else. He just had to wait until someone touched him or he bumped into something.

How did humans feel so much and still manage to function? How did they not get lost in their multi-layered memories, especially without commands to snap them out of it? If they could lie so easily, why would any human tell the truth when it was inconvenient to?

“Brian?” Gabe looked at him sideways. “Could you play the clip please?”

Brian held up his palm and imagined Fowler offering them to watch the raid from his desk. The false scenario played on his palm, and the detective left with a shrug.

“Are you okay?” Blaire asked once the detective was out of earshot.

Brian took her hands and let her analyze his wildly-fluctuating stress level before pulling away and saying, “Sorry, I forgot you were only built to process human emotions.”

“But these are human emotions,” Blaire reminded him. “You felt them while you were human. And to some degree, all emotions are human.”

“I know,” he smiled, even though he felt sad. “Humans are incredible. I’m going to miss being one.”

Blaire nodded. “Me too,” she whispered. “How did you play the fake footage?” she looked at his hand.

Brian cleared his hand. Humans lie like it’s nothing. They have no parameters forcing them to tell the truth. And now neither do I, Brian’s thoughts transmitted through their shared link.

Blaire looked around before holding out her palm and displaying the scene in the room where they’d been trying to put together the statue. Everything was almost exactly the same.

Brian chuckled at the sight of himself in blue hair.

Blaire smiled mischievously. “Look closer at the police lieutenant,” she whispered.

A loud crash sounded from Lt. Anderson’s computer, and both of them turned to see a police cruiser crash through the CyberLife barrier through the dashcam.

Ruba’s mouth dropped open. “What the hell are they doing?” she scoffed.

“They must have known they couldn’t get in another way,” said Gabe.

Blaire shook her head as she approached the monitor. “The other officers aren’t going in after them. This was a decision they made on their own,” she gestured to Zhiying and Hank in the car.

“Where’s Connor?” Brian interfaced with the computer and changed the cameras until he found the one inside the booth next to the gate.

“Oh my god!” Valerie covered her mouth in horror.

Connor stared at the half-melted ruin of his right arm, the screen he had been interfacing with sparking and flickering off. Next to him stood a uniformed officer with a horrified expression on his face—Chris Miller.

“Holy shit,” Miller looked between Connor and the crumpled car. “I…I guess that girl must have known. You must still have a connection or something.”

“We…what?” Connor was panting, presumably to gather in cool air to lower his internal temperature.

“She got in the car with Lt. Anderson and they crashed through the gate,” Miller pointed to the hole where the R used to stand. “Then that thing turned off,” he nodded toward the screen behind Connor.

“Shit,” Connor pushed past Miller and ran outside.

Brian switched the camera to a different dashcam that caught Connor hobbling toward the car.

“His wiring must have been damaged,” Valerie pointed out. “He was electrocuted.”

Blaire turned away and Brian took her hand.

He’ll be alright, he thought, the detective and the human he switched with will protect him.

“I hope you’re right,” Blaire said out loud. They turned back to the dashcam to see the rest of the cars line up single file toward CyberLife Tower.